THE Government has noted that the price of sanitary wear
has shot beyond the reach of many women who have resorted to using unhygienic
materials exposing them to various diseases despite the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority (ZIMRA) waiving customs duty
on imports of the feminine product.
ZIMRA has informed the public on the suspension of customs
duty on sanitary wear for women as a way of promoting hygiene.
In a statement , ZIMRA said: “There is no customs duty on
the importation of sanitary wear for women. The price of sanitary wear in
Zimbabwe shot up beyond the reach of many women facing them to use unhygienic
materials that expose them to infections and other health-related problems.
“In response to the plight of women, the Government
scrapped duty and Value Added Tax (VAT) on sanitary wear to make it available
and to promote hygiene for women. Statutory Instrument 264 of 2018 provides for
a suspension of duty on sanitary wear for women for imports done during the
period December 1 2018 to November 30,2019.
“This means that no customs duty will be charged on
importation of sanitary wear. In addition, the sanitary wear is exempted from
paying import VAT, meaning that VAT is not charged in terms of Statutory
Instrument 265 of 2018.
“Examples of sanitary wear covered under this exemption
include products like sanitary towels and tampons. It should be noted that any
products that is sanitary wear of any other chapter than 96 will attract the
applicable duty,” read the statement.
In Zimbabwe, about 72 percent of menstruating rural primary
school girls do not use sanitary pads.
Some girls have reportedly had to share the same piece of
cloth with their mothers to stem menstrual flows as they cannot afford proper
pads.
This has seen most girls missing school or using unhygienic
material exposing themselves to urinary tract infections, rashes and bacterial
build-ups.
Sanitary wear products will benefit from a suspension of
customs duty, and an exemption from VAT for a period of 12 months. Herald
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