GOVERNMENT has outlawed the importation of vehicles older than 10 years, NewsDay can report.
Statutory Instrument (SI) 54 of 2024 Control of Goods (Import and Export) (Commerce) (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 (No 10) says anyone who imports a second-hand vehicle aged 10 years and above shall bear the costs of re-exportation.
Prior to the latest SI, second-hand motor vehicles aged 10 years and above required an import licence from the Industry and Commerce ministry.
“It is hereby notified that the Minister of Industry and Commerce, in terms of Section 4(1) of the Control of Goods (Import and Export) (Commerce) Regulations, 1974, published in Rhodesia Government Notice 766 of 1974, hereby makes the following notice:
“... Second-hand vehicles aged 10 years and above from the date of manufacture shall not be imported.
“Any second-hand vehicle prohibited under this subsection shall be re-exported by the owner of the said vehicle at his or her expense.”
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In 2020, Finance and Economic Development minister Mthuli Ncube imposed a ban on second-hand private use vehicles above 10 years from the date of manufacture.
Ncube made the policy pronouncement while delivering his 2021 budget.
Government made a U-turn in 2021.
Critics say government official seem to want to be the only ones who are able to afford cars, while the rest of the country looks on in envy.
Ordinary Zimbabweans have been turning to cheap Japanese second-hand vehicles as locally assembled ones are priced beyond reach.
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) pocketed more than US$2 billion and ZWL$29 billion from vehicle imports in 2022, showing a strong appetite for imported cars among the rich and poor.
Last year, Ncube increased the import duty for luxury vehicles.
Government and independent statistics show that US$500 million is spent annually to import second-hand vehicles from Japan, while a small clique of the rich and the State buy top-of-the-range cars.
Government has splurged millions of dollars on vehicles like Range Rovers, Mercedes-Benzes, Toyota Land Cruisers and other top cars for Cabinet ministers.