THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, order!
HON. HOLDER: On a point of order, we are not hearing what the Hon. Member is saying. May he repeat what he has said – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – We are not the ones. We are trying to counter what he is saying – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – I am telling the Speaker that I cannot hear because the noise is there at the front and yet you are now complaining that I am complaining.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! Hon. Members, if you have something to debate on the Budget, wait for your time. I called out if there was any debate and there was only one person. So, let us listen. If you have nothing to say, hold on.
HON. MARIDADI: Mr. Speaker, this one is from Waverly sold as a double blanket and I bought it for US$30. This one here from Qingshan Investment is also sold also as a double blanket and I bought it for US$23. Both invoices are here. This one from Qingshan is a readymade blanket from China and this is the other one from Waverly manufactured locally. I have here a Statutory Instrument issued by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Public Notice, “Importation of blankets, second hand clothing and second hand shoes.” Most importantly, on this Statutory Instrument, it says here under 1036; poly-knitted fabric is currently imported in semi-processed form, hence undergoes very limited local value addition before transformation into a blanket which competes with locally manufactured blankets. I therefore, propose to increase customs duty on poly-knitted fabric from 10% to 40% plus US$2.50 per kilogram as shown on the table below and there is a table which is shown below here.
Mr. Speaker, I then followed up the two organisations and I discovered that when these blankets are imported into Zimbabwe from China, they are meant to be imported as fabric. They declare 0.40 cents per metre for this fabric and yet the total or actual value of this fabric per metre should be US$2.73. The Minister can check those figures. This blanket is then sold for US$26. So, there is no way that a locally manufactured blanket can compete with this one here. I will leave that aside – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
The way this Qingshan product is done is so sub-standard. You must wash it once for you to see how badly done it is. The reason I then went back to buy this blanket is because I had bought a blanket earlier on, when it was washed once, it disintegrated. I can give it to the Minister to see the thread just comes out just like that. It is so badly done – [HON. ZINDI: It is even torn under, there.] – This is a new blanket which has not been used.
Mr. Speaker, I then followed up this company and I discovered that when they bring in these readymade blankets, they declare at Forbes Border post, as fleece fabric which is going to be value added in this country. When a forty foot container was opened, it had readymade blankets; packed in that bag and ready for sale. That container, because they declare fabric at 0.40 cents per metre, the forty foot container was paid for US$4 700 but the actual value of that container is US$95 000. I have all that evidence.
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