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Thupeyo Muleya

Beitbridge Bureau

GOVERNMENT has started enforcing new regulations requiring all fuel in transit, imported through ports of entry by road, to pay duty and levies at the border, with the duty being refunded at the port of exit upon compliance with all the transit procedures, including submission of proof that the fuel has been exported.

This affects the transportation of all fuel, including petrol, diesel, paraffin and Jet A1 being ferried by road through Zimbabwe.

Transit fraud occurs where importers declare that goods are in transit (removal in transit — RIT) to neighbouring countries yet the cargo is offloaded in Zimbabwe.

As a result of such activities, the country was losing a lot of potential revenue to unscrupulous players in the fuel industry.

The Government has also closed the loophole that some fraudsters used, filling their tankers with water after offloading the fuel, by demanding checks and proof that what is in the tanker is the fuel that came in at the entry point.

The fiddle that was being used usually involved fake declarations that the cargo was going to Zambia, a country with its own refinery and pipeline to Dar es Salaam and perfectly good import systems of its own.

As a result of the fraud, the Government was losing import duty and other fuel taxes and the fraudsters were making huge profits when they sold the fuel internally.

In a public notice, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) said the new regulations came into effect on Saturday last week and are being enforced. Those driving fuel trucks into the country pay the taxes regardless of whether the fuel is for sale inside Zimbabwe or is in transit.

The new rules were announced by Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Mthuli Ncube in his Mid-Term Budget Review as part of a range of measures to plug loopholes and ensure that crime is impossible, regardless of criminal intent.

“With effect from August 10, 2024, all fuel, petrol, diesel, paraffin and Jet A1, in transit imported through ports of entry by road, are now required to pay duty and levies on entry. The duty and levies will be refunded at the port of exit upon compliance with all the transit procedures, including submission of proof that the fuel has been exported.

“Consignee’s and/or representatives should approach ZIMRA at the port of entry to initiate the fuel clearance and payment process. For the refund process, once the fuel has been exported, they should approach ZIMRA at the port of exit to initiate the requisite refund,” said Zimra in a statement.

Other types of transit fraud are being combated through electronic seals on trucks and containers. With full Government backing, ZIMRA has been acquiring electric seals for transit break bulk cargo mostly being carried in flatbed trailers. ZIMRA also attach electronic trackers on commercial cargo in transit and transit cargo must be transported via geo-fenced routes. Liquid fuels have additional problems, since safety rules prevent sealing of tanks, hence the decision to levy duty and refund at the point of exit.

The electronic cargo tracking system for other cargoes was rolled out early in 2017 to curb transit fraud and to safeguard revenue collection by ZIMRA.

This system monitors the movement of transit cargo from the point of entry into Zimbabwe up to the point of exit and ensures that there is no tampering with the consignment along the designated route. In addition, the process involves the tracking of transiting cargo in real-time throughout the entire route from point of entry to point of exit.

The system gives instant alarms on any violations and this triggers the intervention of the dedicated security and ZIMRA reaction teams. In most cases, commercial goods are transported in containers and flatbed trailers covered with tents. 

It is understood that most of the controlled goods which are finding their way to the local market through transit fraud include; cooking oil, washing powder, assorted groceries, genetically modified foods and banned medicines.

Beitbridge Border Post handles an average of 200 transit vehicles per day destined for countries north of the Zambezi River as they drive to Zambia, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The range of measures mean Zimbabwe can fuifill its duty to provide efficient regional transit routes, but deny the opportunities for local business people to fiddle their own customs.