Zimbabwe’s import ban,
imposed under Statutory
Instrument 64 last year as a
protection for locally-made
products, is still very much
in place, but appears to have
had a limited effect on the
volume of goods transported
into the country by either
formal or informal crossborder
traders, according
to Lin Botha of Sediba
Clearing and vice chairman
of the SA Association of
Freight Forwarders
(Saaff) for
Beitbridge.
This was
confirmed to
FTW by a close
contact of hers
on the Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority
(Zimra) side of the border.
Botha noted that, while
there had been unrest and
riots amongst the informal
traders at the border post
when the import restrictions
were first imposed, in a
relatively short time things
had reverted to normal.
“Both the informal and
formal traders very quickly
sorted out the permit
system. People are getting
used to it and things are now
the same as always,” said
Botha.
But, although the
restrictions have not yet
had a significant effect, she
hinted that the Zimbabwe
authorities might have a
quota in mind for each
product category, and when
these are exceeded permits
might become a bit more
limited. However, the World
Trade Organisation
(WTO) has an
import licensing
agreement
which requires
Zimbabwe to
notify the WTO
of any quantitative
restriction it
maintains. But, according
to the SA Trade Law Centre
(tralac), this has not yet
happened.
Also, the adoption of
quantitative measures to
protect local producers
is not included in the list
of exceptions in Article 9
of the Southern African
Development Community
(SADC) Protocol on Trade.