Taskforce to curb substandard goods

GOVERNMENT has set up an inter-ministerial taskforce to curb the influx of substandard and smuggled goods into the country, Industry and Commerce Minister Sekai Nzenza has said.

Minister Nzenza said this on the sidelines of a Consignment-Based Conformity Assessment programme at a local hotel last week.

She said her office was seized with numerous reports of complaints regarding substandard packaging, hazardous food, equipment and fake fuel products.

“The inter-ministerial taskforce on porous borders is already underway that includes Ministries of Home Affairs, Industry and Commerce, Finance and Economic Development and other significant Government departments,” said Minister Nzenza.

“It is still a challenge because we have got porous borders and goods are coming into the country in many different ways. So, our role as a Ministry of Industry and Commerce is to ensure that the consumer is getting what is right, fair and safe.”

Minister Nzenza said the new acts will bring about policy consistency.

“Ultimately what was really important is that as Ministry of Industry and Commerce, we want to ensure that we have standards so what is missing is the Standards Act,” Minister Nzenza.

“We have already started doing the work, gathering information, doing consultations. In the next few weeks hopefully not months we will be launching the Standards Act, but not only that we also need the Consumer Protection Act to be launched its already there.

“The role of the Consumer Protection Act is to ensure that the goods that are coming into the country are safe, they will not harm our people. For example, we have incidences right now through the Consumer Protection

Department where we have solar panels that are not working very well, irons that are bursting, burning people. We need to ensure that people are protected.”

Minister Nzenza said while Zimbabwe was open for business, it should not be mistaken as open to substandard products.

She said there was greater need for regulation, as 60 to 70 percent of products on the market were coming through the informal sector.

Director for Quality Assurance in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Mrs Angelica Katuruza, said the Compulsory Specifications Act will authorise officials to monitor and ensure that local and imported goods meet quality, safety, health, and environmental standards, as well as seizing and destroying substandard goods from the shelves.

“The Act gives the ministry authority to go into the market and identify substandard products and remove them from the market, for now there is no legal basis to do so,” she said.