Zimbabwe Revenue Authority says importers pay duty on cooking oil and need permits for fertilizer

Although the government has lifted import restrictions on more than 30 products to ease the shortage of basic commodities in the country, some of the products still attract duty even if they are below the duty free allowance of $200 while others require import licences.

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority said products that attract duty even if they are below the duty free allowance are: cooking oil, laundry bar soap, flour, sugar, cheese, yoghurt and jam.

Those who want to bring in cheese, yoghurt and fertilizer also need import permits from the Ministry of Agriculture.

Zimbabwe lifted the import restrictions on 25 October following the disappearance of most products from the shelves either through panic buying or the shop-owners hiding them or the manufacturers hoarding in anticipation of price hikes.

Prices of the commodities had also skyrocketed with some retail outlets demanding cash or hard currency.

Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said yesterday the lifting of import restrictions had seen the availability of the products gradually improving.

The government was now working on ending the three-tier pricing system under which a product had three different prices depending on whether one was paying cash, hard currency or electronic money.

She said the full impact of the lifting of the restrictions will be clearly visible by mid-November.

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