Active complaints

Showing items 81 to 84 of 84
Complaint number NTB Type
Category 1. Government participation in trade & restrictive practices tolerated by governments
Category 2. Customs and administrative entry procedures
Category 5. Specific limitations
Category 6. Charges on imports
Category 7. Other procedural problems
Category 8. Transport, Clearing and Forwarding
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COMESA
EAC
SADC
Reporting country or region (additional)
COMESA
EAC
SADC
Status
 Actions
NTB-001-347 2026-03-17 Zimbabwe: Zambia In process View
Complaint: Informal traders carrying small quantities of goods, such as fresh produce, cooking oil, rice, sugar and pasta.
These traders cross the Victoria Falls border post by bike or foot.
The complaint concerns over 50 traders per day, crossing the border.

When entering Zimbabwe, they get stopped by Customs and will face seemingly arbitrary restrictions on quantities of goods that can enters (which change on a daily basis and depending on the specific officer on duty). When these arbitrary quantities are exceeded, the officers often confiscate all of the goods or demand bribes to release the traders. They also face threats when questioning the behaviour of the officer.

When returning after selling goods on the market in Zimbabwe, and after clearing the Zimbabwe Customs, they will often get stopped by police or soldiers in the no-mans-land between the borders to be demanded further bribes from the proceeds of their sales.

If bringing merchandise from Zimbabwe back to Zambia, depending on the officers at the border and despite the small quantities carried, they will be asked to obtain an export license from Harare. Or to pay another bribe to be released. 		 
NTB-001-357 2.6. Additional taxes and other charges 2026-03-30 Zambia: Botswana New View
Complaint: Business Botswana member, Flo-Tek is currently facing trade barrier in Zambia, Flo-Tek raised concerns regarding the imposition of a mandatory entry permit fee of approximately USD 541 per truck shipment for Botswana-registered trucks transporting PVC and HDPE pipes. According to the company, the fee applies regardless of the size or value of the shipment and significantly increases the cost of exporting to the Zambian market, particularly for smaller and more frequent consignments. In addition, Zambia imposes a 20% Selected Goods Surtax (SGS) on PVC pipes, HDPE pipes, and fittings. While the surtax is reportedly intended to protect local manufacturers, Flo-Tek argues that Zambia does not manufacture the large-diameter pipes supplied by the company, meaning there is no local industry being protected in this particular market segment. The company therefore views the surtax as an unnecessary trade barrier that inflates infrastructure project costs and weakens the competitiveness of Botswana manufacturers in the regional market.

The NTB's undermine Botswana’s export competitiveness, increase the cost of cross-border trade, and contradict the broader objectives of SADC regional integration and trade facilitation. The company therefore request resolution through bilateral and regional trade mechanisms. 		 
NTB-001-353 5.14. Restrictive licenses 2026-04-10 Rwanda: Rwanda FDA Kenya In process View
Complaint: wanda FDA is subjecting Kenya products to costly charges for re-testing and registration of the products despite the products being certified by the Kenya bureau of standards with valid standardization mark.
The two products include ace pine fresh and ace citrus fresh liquid toilet cleaners. Rwanda FDA informed that the certifications for the two products had been revoked on the basis that they allegedly contained Nonyl Phenol despite successfully applying for and receiving product registrations from Rwanda FDA under certificates Rwanda FDA‑ADP‑MA‑0070 and Rwanda FDA‑ADP‑MA‑0072. Further the manufacturer confirmed they not using Nonyl Phenol
  
NTB-001-356 1.14. Lack of coordination between government institutions 2026-04-15 Zimbabwe: Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport COMESA In process View
Complaint: Zimbabwe's on line COMESA system has been down since September last year. This has resulted in exporters facing some challenges in producing online COMESA certificates. We did a shipment to Tunisia and had to fill in a new COMESA certificate on a PDF format printed from the computer. This resulted in Tunisian customs rejecting this document claiming that it doesn't have a serial number, therefore its not authentic, even though it was stamped and signed by ZIM customs (ZIMRA). We notified our authorities of the ordeal, and they confirmed that the system was still being rectified. To bail out the situation ZIMRA confirmed that it would contact the Tunisian customs and clarify the prevailing issue currently in Zimbabwe with regards to the on line COMESA certificates. Our market in Tunisia is still facing some clearance problems cause of this incident. We understand that Tunisian customs, wants to resend back the shipment to Zimbabwe at our cost as the shipper. We hereby seek your intervention with regards to this matter. We are dealing with Horticultural fresh and dried produce. Tunisia has proved to be a reliable market, considering the COMESA trade agreements and both countries being member states. We look forward to your earliest response towards in solving our issue. Currently our client is exposed to USD500.00 storage fees per day.  
Products: 0802.90: Nuts, fresh or dried, whether or not shelled or peeled (excl. coconuts, Brazil nuts, cashew nuts, almonds, hazelnuts, filberts, walnuts, chestnuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts, kola nuts and areca nuts)  
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