ZimTrade calls for removal of non-tarrif barriers

Zimbabwe's foreign trade promotion body, ZimTrade, says there is a need to streamline the country's regulatory framework as part of critical steps in narrowing the $3 billion trade deficit.

ZimTrade CEO Sithembile Pilime said there was need for a complete review of the country's regulatory structure to ensure that it is not inadvertently hindering the country's exports.

Non-tariff barriers to trade include import quotas, special licences, and unreasonable standards for the quality of goods, bureaucratic delays at customs, export restrictions, limiting the activities of state trading, export subsidies, countervailing duties, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, and rules of origin among others.

Pilime said a macro-perspective approach to dealing with trade deficit was required.