Zim retailers call for greater government control over import permits

Retailers are concerned that import licences being issued to “middlemen” give rise to higher prices on goods due to loopholes in the “checks and balances” around the applicants.

The Herald newspaper reports that “captains of industry” have warned that government needs to exercise “extreme caution” when issuing import permits as, according to them, “most ended up in the hands of middlemen who dictate prices which are not in sync with current market conditions”.

The state-owned newspaper cited Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president Denford Mutashu as saying: "All those who have been awarded import licences should consider it a privilege and desist from taking it as an advantage to rip off consumers. What we have seen is that most companies and individuals awarded import licences end up abusing them and government should not relax but provide mechanisms to curb the unscrupulous behaviour of those importers."