Zimra delays at borders cost businesses millions

BUSINESSES continue to lose millions of dollars in export orders due to systems inefficiency and delays caused by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) at the country’s borders.

This emerged during a ZimTrade/Zimra stakeholder engagement seminar held in Bulawayo yesterday.

Participants at the seminar also indicated that companies’ efforts to stimulate productivity to competitive levels continue to be undermined by the revenue collector’s inefficiencies.

“As a result of the current systems upgrade by Zimra, we are no longer able to access our documents for 2014, we don’t know whether Zimra does not have the same obligation to keep documents in their systems for the period that we are expected to keep the documents,” said a participant.

An official from Nimr and Chapman, Mrs Johaana Gwisai, said:

“Just to add our voice that there are frequent delays that we are encountering at our borders because of the Asycuda system being down especially in the last quarter of 2017. Nimr Chapman actually lost two orders in that quarter worth nearly $1 million because the truck carrying raw materials was stuck at the border for nine days and at that time there was a customer in South Africa.

“And it’s not only this occasion but there are a number of occasions when similar instances occurred. So, we are saying what can be done if the system is down.”

Asycuda World is a customs system which allows Zimra clients to submit their customs documents to the tax collector from anywhere in the world as long as one is registered with the authority and there is Internet connectivity at the place from which one would be transacting.

The system also enables pre-clearance of goods and thus entailing importers can clear their goods before arrival at the port of entry to facilitate the smooth flow of cargo.

Following the system collapse, it caused a logjam and delays in cargo clearance at the country’s borders.

Another participant from a local manufacturing company weighed in saying her organisation imports chemicals and because of the delays at the country’s borders, their trucks carrying the chemicals were spending between two and three weeks before getting cleared into the country.

“We have these chemicals (carried by the trucks) boiling while parked at the border awaiting clearance, why can’t we have the trucks allowed into the country when the Zimra system is down and get cleared when they get to Bulawayo,” said the participant.

For example, she said in countries such as Mozambique, if there is congestion at the border, consignments are cleared when they reach their destination.

The participant said this would ease the congestion at the border adding that owing to the delays at the border, they were in a catch 22 situation as they could not return the consignment to the supplier for quality retest.

“As a result of these delays, we have lost orders.”

Last February, Finance and Economic Planning Minister Patrick Chinamasa told Parliament that upgrading of the Asycuda World was expected to be completed end of next month after it collapsed last December.

An official who spoke representing Treger Group said: “We still have to pay for the manual processing and when the system is up and running you still have to pay again. And when the system loses a document, and its not your (the trader) fault, you still have to pay again and this is also driving our operational costs.”

Responding to business concerns, a Zimra official said business should continue to push the revenue authority to improve on its service provision.

‘If you do not push us to achieve what we (Zimra) have laid down as our deliverables, then we are not going anywhere.

“In addition to that, Zimra has made a facility available for pre-clearing of goods and this has been available, I think since 2000, but there has been very limited uptake of that facility,” he said, adding that the preclearance of goods entering the country by road has this year been made mandatory.

ZimTrade Matabeleland region manager Mr Similo Nkala told the participants that the stakeholder engagement seminar had been prompted by the feedback his organisation received from businesses.

“During the company visits we have conducted and also through feedback you have given us during the ZimTrade organisedseminars, we made a proposal to Zimra to have this seminar so that they are able to hear your concerns and what you think will be the best way going forward,” said Mr Nkala. -@ okazunga