Zimbabwe govt committed to protecting consumer rights

Harare (New Ziana) -The Zimbabwe government is committed to ensuring that its citizens consume quality products at all times, either locally produced or imported, with the implementation of the Consignment Based Conformity Assessment program (CBCA) attesting to that.

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce Mavis Sibanda said this in a speech read on her behalf during a CBCA workshop held in the capital on Tuesday.

The CBCA program ensures improvement of quality products locally produced or imported through compliance with applicable standards to protect consumers against dangerous and substandard goods.

Sibanda said the 1st of June 2022 marked the commencement date of the full implementation of the new CBCA program in the country.

“The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority continues to enforce the program at all ports of entry. I therefore appeal to all our importers of goods to abide by the CBCA program,” she said.

“Let me reiterate that products that come into the country without being subjected to inspection have the potential to pose danger to unsuspecting consumers. Before the full implementation of the program, there had been complaints of cheap substandard products flocking the domestic market and creating an uneven even playing field for local industries. This included sub-standard packaging, wrongly quoted measurements and more worryingly poor quality food items.

She said her Ministry was excited about the new CBCA program as inspection of goods exported to Zimbabwe would be speeded up on both shipment and destination for selected goods such as general cargo, imported vehicles and vehicle spare parts.

Consumer council of Zimbabwe deputy chief executive officer John Mapara commended the government for embracing the CBCA program saying the move was in line with the Consumer Council Act, which addresses issues of proliferation of substandard products on the marketplace.

Mapara added that the CBCA was a necessary tool for protecting consumers from substandard and hazardous products.

New Ziana