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Edgar Vhera-Agriculture Specialist Writer
ALL institutions wishing to participate in the provision of agricultural inputs and contracting services have up to 30 September to register.
In a statement, the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) yesterday extended the invitation to all institutions or individuals involved in contract farming, manufacturing, buying or selling of agricultural inputs to register or renew their licences for the 2022/23 agricultural season.
Large-scale suppliers of agricultural inputs are required to attach certificates of incorporation, CR14 and CR6 Forms, certificate of registration of fertiliser/seed/chemicals from the department of Research and Specialist Services (DR&SS) and valid tax clearance certificate. The charge for large-scale agricultural input trader registration is US$350 or equivalent at official inter-bank rate per year.
In addition to the above requirements small-scale agricultural input suppliers are required to pay US$125 or its local value equivalent at the official inter-bank rate per quarter.
The contracts season, which runs from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023 has a deadline registration date of 30 September 2022.
Registration is governed by statutory instrument 147 of 2012 {Agricultural Marketing Authority (registration of companies and submission of returns) regulations of 2012}, which states that every company that is or intends to be in the business of buying and contracting agricultural products shall register with AMA.
The company is also required to submit periodic returns on products bought or processed as well as keep records of products it bought and such requests shall be produced for the inspection at the request of an inspector of AMA.
Any company that engages in buying and contracting agricultural products without being registered as a buyer or contractor, as the case may be and/or fails to submit a return or makes deliberately false statement in a return required to be submitted in terms of these regulations, shall be guilty of an offence.
It shall be liable to a fine not exceeding level four or imprisonment for a period of three months or both such fine and such imprisonment.
Fertiliser, seed and agricultural chemical industries as well as suppliers of other agricultural inputs and contractors are required to register with AMA.
When successfully registered contractors, input manufacturers, buyers and processors are mandated to submit returns on growers, input support levels, inputs (seed, feeds, chemicals and fertiliser) supply situation, product prices and purchases as well as processed products.
To enhance easy of doing business all these applications can be done online at www.ama.co.zw.
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