SECOND-HAND UNDERWEAR TRADERS FACE CHOP

WE have embarked on a programme with the Zambia Revenue Authority to pursue traders who sale banned second-hand under garments, the Zambia Compulsory Standards Agency (ZCSA) has said.

ZSCA Chief Executive Officer Peggy Chituta told the Daily Nation in Kitwe in an interview that following up the importers was the only solution to end the problem.

She noted that there were so many markets in the country, making it difficult for the agency to confiscate the products.

With the help of the ZRA, he said, his organisation would be able to track down traders who were importing second-hand underwear.

The buying and selling of second hand under garments was banned in Zambia but some traders still bring them in the country, insisting that the products were fumigated before coming in.

"It is difficult for our inspectors to determine the kind of clothing that come into the country because they are mostly mixed with other clothes and undergarments are not labelled.

"We are now concentrating on establishing the people that bring in such things when they know too well that they have been banned," she said.

Ms Chituta called for mindset change among the citizens for them to realise that second hand under garments were not safe for them.

She said that ZSCA would continue with awareness programmes because people needed to be aware of the dangers the trend could have.

"Traditionally, we don't inherit such things and we fail to understand as an agency why people wallow themselves to use things without knowing the people that first used them. It is not a natural practice for us," Ms Chituta said.

She said that getting rid of such a business was difficult because traders were willing to shield the people that imported the products so that they could continue supplying to them.