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Ivan Zhakata Herald Correspondent
APPROVED and regulated importers can now bring in fertiliser duty free to ensure adequate supplies ahead of the coming summer cropping season with pricing formulas approved in advance of any duty-free licence.
Those who import duty free fertiliser but sell it at a higher price than that agreed when they were licensed by the Ministry of Agriculture will have to pay the full duty plus penalties.
In a notice in an extraordinary Government Gazette published yesterday, the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Professor Mthuli Ncube, suspended the duty on fertiliser for approved importers in terms of section 235 as read with section 120 of the Customs and Excise Act for 12 months.
The new regulations update the 2003 fertiliser duty regulations and stress the need for not just approval of the importers but also for their regulation, which means that the Government has to approve pricing formulas.
“In these regulations “approved fertiliser importer” means any importer approved and licensed by the Ministry responsible for Agriculture, in consultation with the Ministry responsible for Industry and Commerce and the fertiliser manufacturing industry to import fertilisers in quantities not exceeding the tonnage specified in the schedule.”
Prof Ncube said the Minister responsible for Agriculture had to approve a list of reputable fertiliser importers for the purposes of these regulations and licence the importers so they could then deal with Zimra.
Making the conditions explicit, Prof Ncube said:
“The Commissioner (of Zimra) shall not grant suspension of duty to an approved fertiliser importer where the importer does not have a licence issued by the Ministry responsible for Agriculture. The Ministry responsible for Agriculture shall ensure that approved fertiliser importers adhere to responsible pricing of fertilisers for which the Commissioner would have wholly suspended duty payable.
“Any approved fertiliser importer who sells fertilisers for which duty would have been suspended at prices equal or higher than fertilisers on which duty is ordinarily payable shall be liable to pay duty suspended and applicable penalties. Notwithstanding the quantities specified in the Schedule, approved importers shall be allowed to exhaust the ring-fenced allocations specified in Statutory Instrument 31 of 2023,” reads the notice.
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