Catch them, Mutati sets ZRA after smugglers

. Chanda

By KELVIN MUDENDA –
SMUGGLING remains the biggest cancer to domestic revenue mobilisation quite apart from eroding the competitiveness for local products, Finance Minister Felix Mutati has said.
Mr Mutati said the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) needed to employ fiscal methods, technology and intelligence to cure the malady.
The minister said this after touring Victoria Falls and Kazungula border facilities in Livingstone and Kazungula districts over the weekend.
He said the Government, working with ZRA, was going to make enforcement and compliance a key pillar for domestic resource mobilisation.
“The only way we’re going to curb smuggling is to employ fiscal methods, technology and also intelligence and I am happy that we are beginning to see the results,” Mr Mutati said.
He said the campaign needed to be ruthless and relentless.
“So we have to lift up the pace so that we can eliminate as much as possible all forms of smuggling and start making profits as Zambians. Catch them, seize the goods and let’s forfeit them to the State,” Mr Mutati said.
He said there was need to accelerate the flow of traffic at the Kazungula border post for the Government to collect the much-needed revenue.
“We need to put up stop-gap measures, particularly around the pontoon to accelerate the traffic across the river in the interim before the bridge is operational,” Mr Mutati said. “Let’s put in interim measures so that we can accelerate the revenue collection from Kazungula.”
ZRA Commissioner General Kingsley Chanda said his team had put in a lot of measures aimed at curbing smuggling at all entry points.
“We are doing our best and as you know, ZRA is always blamed for smuggling and unfair competition to our local manufacturers. All I can assure you is that we are doing our best and the results can show,” Mr Mutati said.
Meanwhile, Mr Chanda said ZRA was investigating media reports indicating that toxic alcoholic beverages were being brought into the country by some suspected importers.
“One of the key responsibilities of ZRA is to ensure national safety in terms of what goods are brought into the country. Are they of the required standards and are they safe for consumption for our population?
“We are taking these reports seriously. Our intelligence and investigations unit are already in action to check how many importations have been received from that particular exporter and we will be working closely with the Zambia Bureau of Standards on this issue,” the minister said.