Zim to revise local industry protection instrument

Published: 03 September 2017

THERE is a need for Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 (SI 64) to be reviewed so that it includes more goods that were left out when it was introduced so that local industry enjoys protection while recapitalisation efforts are being worked out.

Speaking on the sidelines of a breakfast briefing meeting held at a Bulawayo hotel on Thursday, Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Chiratidzo Mabuwa said, however, considerations have to be looked at whether the local industry is capable of supplying the market before more goods are added on the list.

"When the ministry received the list of goods which informed the formulation of SI 64, we left out some items. We don't just take up everything because there are other considerations such as looking at the impact of each product and other protocols which people have signed with regional groupings or bilateral protocols and whether we can adequately meet the demand.

"We also want to look at the items which were left out so as to address the outstanding issues which made us not include them at that time. An SI has been put in place; we can only review it or introduce a separate SI which serves the same purpose," said Mabuwa.

Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Mike Bimha earlier this year admitted that the Government rushed to introduce (SI64) last year without consulting key stakeholders, adding his ministry was now working on a new policy framework to correct inconsistencies caused by the import restriction policy.

During the opening of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair International Business Conference, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa said since the enactment of the importations regulation policy, Zimbabwe had reduced its import bill by $1 billion.

The country's import bill has been coming down with the imports having reduced from a high of $6,3 billion in 2015 to $5,2 billion in 2016, a realisation of some $1,1 billion in import savings.

SI 64 offers local firms immense opportunities to retool and modernise in order to produce products that the country used to import, thereby saving the much needed foreign currency and in turn resuscitate industry, especially the manufacturing sector whose performance had been negatively affected by an influx of cheap imports.

The goods under SI 64 of 2016 include furniture, beds, wardrobes, dining room suites, office furniture, bottled water, mayonnaise, salad cream, peanut butter, jam, mahewu, canned fruits, vegetables, pizza, yoghurts, flavoured milks, dairy juice blends, ice creams, cultured milk, cheese, coffee creamers, camphor creams, white petroleum jellies, body creams and plastic pipes.

The SI also controls the importation of wheelbarrows, parts of structures of iron or steel, roofing frameworks, doors, windows and their frames and threshold for doors, plates, rods, angles, shapes section, plastic pipes and fittings, flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel (of a width of 600mm or more), clad-plated or coated and corrugated steel roofing sheets, importation of second-hand tyres (all retreaded or used pneumatic tyres of rubber), baler and binder twine, fertilisers (urea and ammonium nitrate), compounds and blends, tile adhesive and tylon, shoe polish, synthetic hair products are also in the list of products whose importation has been banned.

Deputy Minister Mabuwa said she was encouraged by the employment rate creation in Bulawayo although there was potential to double it if utilisation is increased.

"I am encouraged by the employment creation rate in Bulawayo although it is still low. The number of people who are classified as scrap metal merchants is too high and I am not happy with the methodology because it can be improved and we can have sustainable jobs created in that sector given that it is well capacitated. We have some waste called shavings which has nowhere to be deposited and I urge merchants to research and find out what the Chinese do with this waste so that we also use it for the same purpose. There is potential for employment creation if capacity utilisation is increased," she added.

She bemoaned the lack of prioritisation of safety clothing and environmentally friendly disposal of waste.

"From my observations, safety, health and environment issues are not being prioritised in industries. Industries ought to have qualified Safety, Health & Environmental Management (Shem) officers who will provide guidelines on how to operate after obtaining manufacturing consent. The officers will also teach manufacturers how to dispose waste in an environmental friendly manner."
- sundaynews