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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
MEMBERS of the Shipping and Forwarding Agents Association of Zimbabwe (SFAAZ) meet in Beitbridge today to discuss the implementation of new pre-shipment measures among other factors affecting their business.

The 10th annual conference is expected to attract close to 100 delegates under the theme “managing the supply chain in a turbulent environment”, organisers said.

SFAAZ chief executive officer Joseph Musariri said: “We’re ready to roll and hope to have the Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko as our key speaker”.

He said some of the issues to be discussed include the implementation of the consignment based conformity programme, which the government intends to roll out soon.

“This will have a bearing on imports as they’ll have to conform to various regulations and procedures. We’ll also discuss the setting up of the border post authority, import licences and the rationale and processes of obtaining them,” said Musariri.

He said the meeting would be attended by representatives of ministries of industry and commerce and transport and infrastructure development, custom clearing agents, Zimra and other players involved in issues of imports and exports.

Musariri said the meeting would review revenue collection and controls by Zimra as well as review the mid-term policy review statement and challenges affecting operations at Beitbridge Border Post, the country’s busiest port of entry.

“We’ve invited the police to share ideas on their role in cross border traffic. On Saturday we’ll have a guided tour of Beitbridge Border Post for some of the delegates to familiarise themselves with the operations there,” he said.