Non-Tariff Barriers

Complaint

Complaint number

NTB-000-956  

NTB Type

2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures  

Complaint

There are daily delays of truck movement due to customs clearing delays by Zambian authorities. Trucks are made to queue on the Zimbabwean side of the border whilst Zambian procedures are being done. The queue on the Zimbabwean side is almost permanent and sometimes stretches up to 10km along the road. Drivers have no ablution and other facilities in the process (health challenges).
The fight against the covid-19 disease is severely affected adversely by this development. In addition to this the trucks are exposed to thieves and wild animals. Clearing agents Zimbabwe transit bonds are also held up pending exit of the trucks.  

Status note

Zambia NTBs national monitoring Committee undertook a verification mission to Chirundu Border post on 11- 12 June 2020 to ascertain the degree of the problem and recommend way forward. The mission found out that all border agencies were overwhelmed by the increase in the volumes of traffic due to the COVID-19 Pandemic which caused traffic to be diverted from other borders e.g Kazungula Ferry to Chirundu . Following submission of this complaint the Zambia and Zimbabwe put in place the following temporary measures to adress the matter:
1. Increased working hours from 16 hours a day to 24 hours a day;
2. Introduction of an additional lane to fast track the flow of essential goods such as fuels, food medical supplies and medical equipment;
3. Truck drivers are allowed to park their trucks outside the Common Control Zone (CCZ) before undergoing health screening at the passenger terminal in order to decongest the border area; and
4. Introduction of processing of exports in-land to reduce the amount of time spent by the truck drivers at the border.
These measures cleared all the trucks in the ques therefore the NTB was resolved  

Progress update note

Zambia NMC is undertaking consultations with relevant authorities and they will provide feedback as soon as possible .  

Policy or regulatory NTB

No 

Location

Zambia: Chirundu (Border post)  

Reporting Country or Region

 

Country specific trade issue

No  

Date of incident

2020-04-08  

Status

Resolved  

Date of resolution

2020-05-31  

Product Description

Computer-assisted translation

• English
• Arabic
• French
• Portuguese

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Total value

0  

Date reported

2020-05-05 11:27  

Modified

2020-06-23 12:12