admin
Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) has initiated a 100 percent search programme on cargo coming into the country through Beitbridge Border Post following an acute increase in cases of smuggling.It is understood that the searches went into effect following the arrival of an anti-smuggling team led by Zimra’s Commissioner General Gershem Pasi on Tuesday last week.
The team is said to have been unleashed at Beitbridge border post following repeated reports of incidents of smuggling.
A significant portion of Zimra’s revenue is collected at Beitbridge border post alone where 170,000 people pass through every month.
The arrival of the anti-smuggling team has for the past week ensured that there is maximum compliance to the country’s customs laws.
The hardest hit group of travellers are informal traders who are in the habit of smuggling goods that fall outside the tax rebate. Most of the smuggled goods include flea market wares – shoes, blankets, alcohol beverages and other banned genetically modified foodstuffs, especially chickens, eggs and potatoes.
Zimra’s director for Corporate and Legal affairs Florence Jambwa was not available for comment but senior Zimra officials at the border post yesterday said they had intensified searches after realising that the authority was losing a lot of revenue due to smuggling.
“The smuggling of items which are outside the travellers’ rebate such as clothing items, blankets and electrical gadgets such as refrigerators and stoves is a cause for concern and hence we decided to tighten screws on the imports side,” said one of the officials.
The source said the 100 percent search was meant to ensure compliance among travellers.
“Our main objective is to make sure that the travelling public comply with the country’s customs laws.”
The new development has seen Zimra increasing the number of officers searching vehicles and buses.
On average, three revenue specialists are now searching a single bus; previously the same task was carried out by one officer.
Chronicle is reliably informed that Zimra collects between $50 million and $60 million at Beitbridge border post per month and it contributes 30 percent of the government’s revenue.
Online Reporter