Certify to protect your brand

puts its neighbours at great risk at three levels. Firstly, if the SA economy collapses we collapse with it.
Secondly, there has been a lot of dumping activity happening via South Africa from across the world. Thirdly, we seem to be at the wrong end of the stick in our trade relationship with South Africa.

We need to establish mutually beneficial trade partnerships. It is important that we protect our local industrial base to avoid catastrophe in the future.
Some might view this as against the spirit of provisions of the WTO but the Sadc Protocol’s Article’s 20 and 21 on safeguarding measures and protection of infant industries allowing for some degree of protection against unfair and crippling trade practices in member states. Zimbabwe should also pay close attention to the anti-dumping measures that are in conformity with WTO provisions.

However, there exist other ways of protecting your business from unfair competition from inferior imports.
Failure to be strict against goods that pass through our borders places consumers at great risk and threatens local companies with closure. Zimbabwe is flooded with inferior products whose standards are anonymous to the consumer and are competing for market share with quality Zimbabwean products.

Buy Zimbabwe encourages local producers to certify products with the SAZ and is currently promoting a Buy Zimbabwe certification process that boldly states country of origin, quality and adherence to fair labour practice for quick and easy identification by local and international consumers. Certification says that the product is safe for use by the consumer.
It helps to differentiate between a good product and a bad one.

Currently, the EU is battling an E-coli bacteria outbreak which originated in Germany, has killed 14 people in the country, made more than 300 people ill and threatens to sweep across northern Europe in the coming week. The E-coli pathogen has primarily been identified on cucumbers that have been dumped in Germany.
Lives have been lost because authorities failed to take stringent measures to protect the consumer.

I applaud the Veterinary Department and Mr Solomon Zawe’s Poultry Association of Zimbabwe for preventing the continued importation of tonnes of GMO chicken which were not only threatening to destroy the local poultry industry but were also a threat to human health.

Consumers are crying foul about soaps, detergents and body creams that are harmful to skins that enter the country illegally.
Surely, we have the right to say no to such products.

A while ago Mr Jonas Mushangari, managing director of Olivine Industries threatened to report to authorities a smuggled cooking oil brand retailing in an Afrofood outlet. True to his suspicion the oil was pulled off the shelf only to return a week later.

I believe it’s time to whistle blow and assist Zimra deal with cases of smuggling because admittedly the revenue collector does have some capacity constraints.
Olivine cooking oil has been pushed off the market by products such as Delight, Safflo and others, which under Statutory Instrument 191/2010 enter Zimbabwe, duty free. Zimbabwe needs to closely monitor the quality of the products that are permitted into the country and taking advantage of well intended statutes.

Despite a strong reputation of quality and the huge demand from consumers who clearly miss the product, Olivine is uncompetitive price wise.
Apart from entering the market duty free, competitors are supported by export incentives from their home country and at times smuggled into the country against duties that are paid by Olivine on raw materials.

The irony is that this is what makes the price of such products “right” for the consumer.
Olivine’s challenge is the 5 percent duty levied on imported raw materials such as crude soyabean oil, emulsifiers, vitamins and other raw materials that contribute to cost build-up.

Olivine oil finds it unprofitable to compete, that is why they focus production on margarine, soaps and canned beans instead. Imagine what would happen if Olivine were to shut down operations in Zimbabwe, set up in South Africa and service the local market from there so that they too can benefit from the contradictions.

That means jobs lost in Zimbabwe would be created for South Africans.
Challenges faced by Olivine are not peculiar to them. They cut across a number of key sectors and as Buy Zimbabwe we welcome submissions so that together we can assist in influencing the right policy framework.

The National Economic Consultative Forum is working tirelessly to address these policy issues and Buy Zimbabwe is contributing immensely to the process.

With the right policies Zimbabwean brands can be competitive and consumers will surely buy local products.