Fish import scam laid bare

GOVERNMENT is losing a lot of revenue through illegal importation of fish and meat, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock Benson Mwenya has said.

Dr Mwenya said that some companies that were involved in the import business, obtained transit permits but end up offloading the fish and other products on the Zambian market.

He said yesterday in an interview that his ministry had on a number of times issued transit permits of the fish and meat products but surprisingly, the products end up being offloaded at the borders.

“We give transit permits to companies buying meat or dairy products destined for Democratic Republic of Congo for instance but to our surprise, they offload the goods at Kasumbalesa and they start selling the products in Zambia, which is very unfortunate,” Dr Mwenya said. Dr Mwenya said, as a result, Government was losing revenue because such companies were dodging to pay importation tax which was higher than the tax for a transit permit. He said the government did not encourage the importation products that could be produced within the country.

He said if the country experienced a shortfall in fish requirements, it would create the zeal to produce more and ultimately be self-sustained.

Dr Mwenya said a committee had been put in place to advise when the country could import fish and meant among other products.

“We don’t encourage the importation of what we have the capacity to produce so as the country. This is what the President is talking about, let's produce for our own then we are going to be self-sufficient, jobs will be created and we can eat what we want,” Dr Mwenya said. He noted that the importation of meat and fish products, especially dairy, disadvantages the local producers because imported products were usually highly subsidised.