REGULATORY COSTS IN ZIMBABWE

Regulatory burdens in Zimbabwe are not geographically and locationally sensitive. Industries operating in Rural District Councils (RDC) experience acute regulatory compliance challenges. RDCs charge a Land Development Levy ofUSD3 per hectare per year. The charge may seem to be small but is significant for firms owning huge plantations, with no commensurate services from the RDCs.

The charges also include non-productive land, which the firms are not benefiting from commercially. For example, a timber producer with 45,000 hectares of land will be charged USD135,000 per year, at a time when a significant portion of that land is mountains, rivers, graveyards, conservatives, and illegal settlers from which the company does not derive benefits.

The Forest Commission of Zimbabwe is mandated to regulate the trade in timber and timber products in Zimbabwe. The Commission issues timber trading licenses and timber movement permits as provided by the Statutory Instrument (SI) 116 of 2002.

The AMA administers various regulations, which negatively impact the cost of doing business in Zimbabwe. For example, the S1 147 of 2012 requires companies in the business of buying and contracting agricultural products (including feed producers) to register annually and comply with several obligations. For example, abattoirs must register with AMA and pay annual registration fees, despite being registered and paying annual registration fees to the Veterinary Public Health (VPH) Department.

Apart from that, the SI 129 of 2017 requires registered cattle abattoirs to pay USD10 per slaughtered head which is a significant cost. The same SI requires milk processors to pay USD0.01 per litre and USD0.01 per chick produced.

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REGULATORY COSTS IN ZIMBABWE