Taskforce to oversee export reforms 17 more amendments to be gazetted
GOVERNMENT has put in place a taskforce to oversee the implementation of ease of doing exports reforms and urged businesses to take advantage of the initiative to improve their competitiveness on the export market.
Ministry departments have already started implementing agreed reforms under the Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) spearheaded by ZimTrade and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Enterprise Development.
“An implementation taskforce has been put in place to oversee the implementation of the agreed reforms.
“The taskforce is also mandated to address any challenges that may arise in the implementation stage of the reforms,” said ZimTrade in its latest newsletter.
“It will also attend to additional recommendations that may be submitted by various stakeholders under the ease of doing export business framework.”
Zimbabwe trails behind in terms of exports as evidenced by a perennial trade deficit averaging $3 billion annually since 2009, which experts blame on low domestic productivity, reliance on imports and export regulation bottlenecks.
The prevailing cash shortages have also been blamed on low exports, which are a source of the scarce foreign exchange in the economy.
In view of this challenge, the Office of the President and Cabinet in December last year mandated ZimTrade and the Ministry of Industry to champion the RRI drive under the “ease of doing export business” framework. The intervention sought to address challenges affecting exporters in Zimbabwe focusing on two broad thematic areas culminating in the formation of two teams assigned to each task.
The first team focused on harmonising export regulations, procedures and permits. Its mandate was to address export challenges caused by a plethora of regulations and permits, processing times, locations, fees and levies. The second committee was tasked to deal with issues surrounding export capacity – dealing with aspects such as obsolete machinery, utility costs, export incentives, cost of capital and import conditions for raw materials.
“The RRI adopted a “business unusual” approach and engaged various Government ministries to implement specific reforms that could improve the business landscape for exporters,” said ZimTrade.
While some of the recommendations are still going through the administrative and legislative process, the country’s trade agency noted that: “some ministries and regulatory authorities have confirmed that they have started implementing some of the reforms that were recommended under the initiative”.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce Through Statutory Instrument (S.I.) 122 of 2017, which was published on 22 September 2017, the Ministry of Industry has reduced the number of products that require export licences. The only four products that still require export licences are fertiliser, raw and refined sugar, gypsum and second-hand equipment.
The ministry has also reduced waiting period for export permits to a maximum of two days. According to ZimTrade, the ministry has created a “dedicated section to specifically process export licences within the recommended time frame”.
The reforms include removal of the $50 registration fee for exporters and importers with effect from 12 June 2017. The ministry has also extended a moratorium to financially strained companies that are owing the Standard Development Fund (SDF), which is being implemented on a case by case basis.
The same ministry has engaged a consultant, in liaison with the RRI committee, to make recommendations that will feed into the Zimbabwe National Export Strategy.
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra)
According to ZimTrade, Zimra has reduced waiting period for Bill of Entries cancellation to a maximum of seven days as well as reduced time of registration for trade agreements. A Zimra official responsible for customs and excise, a Ms A Mashiri, is quoted as saying that:
“Time of registration under trade agreements will be reduced to seven days for processes that do not involve inspection of the manufacturing process”.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Similarly, the apex bank has reduced the cost of Form CD1 from $10 to $2.50 for pre-payments and $5 for payments received within 90 days. The bank has also introduced online application for Form CD1 through Computerised Export Payments Exchange Control System (CEPECS). Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe
(MCAZ) On 1 September 2017, MCAZ reduced the application fee for a pharmaceutical export permit from $50 to $40. The reform was implemented through the Medicines and Allied Substances Control: import and export of medicines Statutory Instrument 99 of 2017.
ZimTrade reports that the statutory amendment also reduced the application fee for a Certificate for Pharmaceutical Product (CPP) by 47 percent from $150 to $80. MCAZ also reduced the processing time of an export permit to a maximum of two days. They also waivered the requirement of an export permit for samples, said ZimTrade.
The Forestry Commission of Zimbabwe In support of the initiative, the department has decentralised the issuance of both timber movement and export permit to district offices, said ZimTrade.
The Ministry of Agriculture ZimTrade noted that the Department of Research and Specialists Services ( DRSS) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, has adjusted its clock-in clock-out time by Beitbridge border manager to align with citrus fruit exports.
It also said the Plant Quarantine Services Institute (PQSI) now communicates directly with growers instead of via growers’ agents as part of measures to enhance efficiency.
Despite the above milestones, ZimTrade reported that there are several reforms that were recommended to various ministries during the RRI, which are yet to be implemented. Among these is the gazetting of 17 other export statutory amendments identified in various sectors.