Import duty set to go up

Senior Reporter
Import duty and tariffs on selected items will go up soon with the Government already working on measures to protect the local industry from competition from cheap products. Speaking during a question and answer session in the Senate yesterday, Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha said the Government was also crafting a Bill to prevent dumping of sub-standard commodities on the local market.

“What we are doing as a ministry is that we are reviewing the entire tariff structure, in other words we want to look at those goods that we produce, if we produce item A and item B we are more inclined to impose heavy duty on the importation of those goods that we can produce,” he said.

“At the same time, we are also saying where our local industries are producing certain goods we are looking at reducing or eliminating duty on the raw materials that they require to produce those goods.

“By using those two strategies, what it means is our local producers will find the cost of production going down because we would have reduced duty on raw materials and also we will have increased duty on substitute goods coming into the country.”

Minister Bimha said it was Government’s wish that the two strategies would assist local manufacturers that have been affected by the cheap imports mainly from South Africa and China.

He said smuggling of goods and corruption at border posts were affecting local industry as cheap and substandard goods were finding their way onto the local market.

Minister Bimha said his ministry completed crafting a Bill that would be presented to Parliament soon to create a body that would be responsible for monitoring standard of goods imported into the country.