Online Reporter
LOSSES of US$1,2 billion a year to Zimbabwe through smuggling and the importation of counterfeit goods need to be tackled across a range of fronts if we are to defeat the criminals and protect the good name of our businesses.
Smuggling tends to grab the headlines, but a lot of progress has been made with border controls, far better coordination with law enforcement in neighbouring states and a serious improvement in the gathering of intelligence.
We have not eliminated smuggling yet, but have been pushing down the percentage these illegal imports make up of our total imports.
Among the measures, has been the upgrade of border posts, which with their digital systems make corruption impossible, so smugglers now face the honest majority of law enforcement and find it a lot harder to see any way around that barrier.
The anti-drugs programme has also had an effect on other smuggling activities.
Operations designed to identify and block imports of illegal drugs will automatically often provide a lot of extra useful intelligence, plus the additional pressures, for the commercial goods smuggling
The other related problem, counterfeit goods, is less publicised, yet is responsible again for loss of customs revenue and for pumping sub-standard goods into Zimbabwean markets, cheating consumers who should be able to trust what is written on the tin and the brands that have been created by those seeking the dual goals of quality and affordability.
Usually, counterfeit goods involve smuggling, even when there might be some home-grown input.
Since 2016, the Consignment Based Conformity Assessment system has required verification before shipment that what is coming into the country is both genuine and meets the needs of those who are likely to buy the products.
A vast range of counterfeits has been blocked by the system, including foods, electronics, car parts and some pharmaceuticals.
In all these products there are perfectly honest and reliable importers who follow the rules.
But they are shadowed by the criminals who gain a double illegal profit by using the name and reputation of the legal supplier, and in the case of pharmaceuticals, this would include verification by the health authorities in the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe.
The second profit comes from the smuggling of substandard goods that are supposed to pay duties.
Imported foods are subject to rules, quite sensibly as no one needs to fall ill and die from food poisoning of unverified products. Something like a climbing rope or a car part needs to be the accepted standard.
Sometimes the blocked goods have not been fake in the accepted sense, rather being branded and trademarked as ordinary products although not copying the branding of a respectable supplier.
But they have been found to be rubbish and totally unfit for the purpose people buy them for.
Sometimes this might be a case of buyer beware. Buying a T-Shirt or a pair of shoes or something similar because it seems to be a major bargain can quite often be a mistake.
But your average buyer can look at the product and assess the risk, and if they make a mistake they just lose money and are not endangered.
We move up the ladder when we start talking about something like car parts. Many have grown to trust certain brands and if fake products are put in a similar looking box, there could be a nasty accident when the fake part fails.
Even when alternatives are offered at lower prices, a consumer should be able to be assured that the product is at least suitable, if not the best.
Again this a question of honesty. Some years ago when new brands of spanners and other tools started appearing, a major supplier was quite blunt with customers.
These were fine if they were just to be used a few times a year by a do-it-yourself handyman, but for a full time artisan not wanting to replace tools every year, going for the more traditional brands was recommended.
When dealing with the honest it is possible to make rational assessments based on cost and quality and work out the premiums that might be charged for some brands.
But we note that this is only possible when everything is out in the open, the products have been properly imported and an honest knowledgeable person has made a fair assessment.
When the cheats come in with their fakes and smuggled rubbish, the normal business rules seem to vanish.
Bongani Ndlovu