By A Correspondent
The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has sounded the alarm over the continued flood of counterfeit and substandard goods in the local market, raising serious questions about the effectiveness of government measures intended to control the quality of imports.
Speaking during a recent stakeholders’ workshop on the Consignment-Based Conformity Assessment (CBCA) programme, the CZI expressed deep concern that despite the programme’s existence, the market is still being overwhelmed by fake and mispriced products.
“As the private sector, we supported the introduction of CBCA to defend our markets from counterfeit goods,” the CZI said. “But unfortunately, the system is falling short — non-compliant products are still slipping through porous borders.”
The CBCA, introduced in 2015, mandates that selected imported goods be inspected and certified in their country of origin to ensure they meet Zimbabwe’s safety and quality standards. Its core purpose is to protect consumers, promote fair competition, and reduce the importation of harmful or fake goods.
However, the CZI highlighted that the burden of compliance is falling disproportionately on formal businesses. They noted that inspection delays—initially meant to take between 3 to 5 days—can now stretch to as long as three weeks, disrupting operations and escalating costs.
“This system only targets formal importers,” the CZI noted. “Meanwhile, informal traders bypass it altogether, flooding the market with cheap, non-certified products, leaving compliant businesses struggling to compete.”
CZI also raised issues around the reluctance of suppliers, particularly from China and Europe, to provide the necessary paperwork for certification. This is reportedly forcing local firms to switch to costlier supply alternatives, further hiking production costs.
“Inspection and compliance costs are ultimately passed on to the consumer, which inflates prices and leaves local industry at a disadvantage,” the CZI added. “This also opens the door to corruption.”
In response, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce acknowledged the concerns, reaffirming that the CBCA programme remains a cornerstone of the country’s industrial policy under the Zimbabwe Industrial Reconstruction and Growth Plan.
“We’re not here to impose policies, but to listen,” the ministry said during the workshop. “This is a crucial moment for us to work with all stakeholders to refine and improve the CBCA framework.”
The ministry emphasized that recent amendments introduced through Statutory Instrument 35 of 2024 were aimed at enhancing the programme’s efficiency and cost-effectiveness, following extensive consultations.
“We are committed to continuously reviewing CBCA’s implementation, guided by feedback from industry and regulatory bodies,” the ministry added.
It also revealed that efforts are underway for the ministry to achieve ISO 9001 certification, signalling a commitment to aligning Zimbabwe’s quality assurance mechanisms with international standards.