The Government, in 2015 engaged the services of a
French-based and global standards firm, Bureau Veritas, to carry out
consignment-based assessments of imported products before shipment or upon
arrival in the country.
While the conformity of imported products that entered into
Zimbabwe before the implementation of the CBCA programme is not known, the
initiative is seen as a giant step towards substantially reducing hazardous and
substandard imported goods as well as improving customs duty collection.
The initiative is vitally important as it seeks to protect
Zimbabwean consumers against dangerous or suboptimal products as well as
improving the quality of products through applicable standards and regulations.
This is particularly significant at a time when the
continent has embraced the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
The AfCFTA to which Zimbabwe is signatory, aims to
eliminate tariffs on 90 percent of goods traded between member States over a
10-year period.
This means that industries across Africa need to brace for
stiff competition and the strengthening of value chains is essential to ensure
Zimbabwean businesses are able to compete.
The AfCFTA is also expected to boost intra-African trade by
53 percent by 2025 with the potential to create up to 30 million jobs and lift
30 million people out of extreme poverty.
Speaking during a CBCA awareness workshop organised by
Bureau Veritas in Harare on Tuesday, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of
Industry and Commerce Dr Thomas Utete Wushe, said the CBCA programme has since
become a major aspect of the country in enhancing consumer welfare as well as
promoting fair business practices.
“Following the inception of the CBCA programme in May 2015,
more than 154 207 545 units of products have been rejected.
“Before the implementation of the programme, the conformity
of the products being imported into the country was not known or appreciated.
“The CBCA programme thus continues to play a pivotal role
in safeguarding our local industry from unfair competition presented by
non-compliant imported products by ensuring that they meet prescribed
standards,” he said.
He said as Zimbabwe embarks on its key export focus growth
at a time when the AfCFTA programme unfolds as well as industry capacity
utilisation, it remains imperative that economic players import quality
high-standard inputs before adding value.
This, Dr Wushe said, would ensure Zimbabwe produces
high-quality reputable products capable of accessing international markets.
“The CBCA programme remains a key trade facilitation tool
within the context of the AfCFA. Zimbabwe can thus only harness tangible
benefits from this multilateral trade agreement if we are producing competitive
quality products and exporting into the region,” said Dr Wushe.
Bureau Veritas was assigned by the Government, through the
Ministry of Industry and Commerce, to ensure that the quality of products
imported into Zimbabwe were regulated or met minimum safety, health and quality
standards.
Of late, the Government has also contracted other companies
including the Standards Association of Zimbabwe to complement the efforts by
Bureau Veritas in inspecting the quality of imported products into the country.
Recently, there has been strong evidence that consumers and
local industry were benefiting from the CBCA initiative as lowly priced
inferior and unsafe imports threatened the safety of consumers and pushed local
products to the brink.
Bureau Veritas Zimbabwe contracts manager said his
organisation, under the CBCA programme specialises in three contract
categories- the general goods contract, used vehicles and spare parts, and
consolidated goods contract which was introduced by the Ministry of Industry
and Commerce to try and promote compliance with players in the informal sector.
“We have a wide range of products covered by the CBCA. We
started with an initial limited product list in 2015 which has seen a
significant increase in the product scope . . . some of the products that are
regulated under the scheme include a wide range of electrical and electronic
products (among them solar products, lighting appliances), construction
materials and appliances, footwear, clothing accessories, automotive products
and spare parts.
“In the energy space, we also have other products such as
petrol, diesel and other related products like gas containers, as well as food
products,” he said.
“The interest is to safeguard the consumer from the adverse
impact of substandard or dangerous products. As a trusted partner, we really do
our best in exercising due diligence to ensure that we only issue a certificate
of conformity for products that have met the requisite prescribed standards.”
The CBCA said there was a need to facilitate trade across
the country’s borders while reducing or minimising the volume of non-compliant
goods within the interest of consumer safety, protection of local industry as
well as fostering fair competition.
In recent years, the domestic market was subjected to the
influx of cheap imported products rendering the local players uncompetitive
while also capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector declining to an
average of 10 percent in 2008.
So far, due to a number of policies the Government and the
private sector have collaborated on, capacity utilisation in the manufacturing
sector is expected to improve this year to over 60 percent.
The projection is also on the back of massive retooling and
fresh investments in machinery by the private sector.
The manufacturing sector has in the past four years been
registering steady gains in volumes and production capacity.
The trend has also resulted in an increase in the
availability of locally produced goods in the supermarket shelves.
In 2022, Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector capacity
utilisation stood at 56,1 percent and the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries
(CZI), which is the country’s industry representative body, is yet to release
results of last year’s manufacturing sector survey report. Herald
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