A cross-border transport
operator last week lodged
a non-tariff barrier (NTB)
complaint over “inadequate
or unreasonable customs
procedures and charges” at the
Chirundu border post between
Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The operator, who wished
to remain anonymous, said
the congestion had resulted
after a notice was issued by the
Zambian Revenue Authority
on May 1 this year advising
that trucks could not enter the
scanner at the border without
the Zambia bill of entry. Fast
lane trucks were not allowed
to leave the border without
having their entry registered, he
explained.
“This has led to chaos on
the Zambian side where some
trucks have arrived without
having registered their bill of
entry and have clogged up the
queue to the scanner. Some
trucks have been forced to park
and wait until these trucks have
been processed,” he said.
The Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority (Zimra) had not been
informed of this and therefore
also had not warned their crossborder
truck operators of this
development, he added. “I had
a conversation with the bonds
office before the May 1 deadline
and they were aware that the
notice was pending but it seems
the official documentation
only arrived after the May 1
deadline.”
The fleet operator noted
further that there was
inadequate parking space on
the Zimbabwean side, with only
20 parking bays. “On Tuesday
last week I noticed a queue of
trucks over 1.7 kilometres long
on the Zimbabwe side, with
over 67 trucks queuing from the
Zimra gate to the Shashe area,”
he pointed out.
He believes 95% of trucks
in the queue were deemed
“high risk” – meaning that
they needed to go through the
scanner.
Welcome to Chirundu… a rusty old sign at the border post.
