WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/LIC/N/3/ZWE/2 
18 October 2007 
 (07-4498) 
Committee on Import Licensing Original:   English 
  
 
REPLIES TO QUESTIONNAIRE ON IMPORT LICENSING PROCEDURES
1 
 
Notification under Article 7.3 of the  
Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures  
 
ZIMBABWE 
  The following communication dated, 4 October 2007,  is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Zimbabwe.  
_______________ 
 
Outline of system
 
 
1. Zimbabwe's imports are governed by the Open General Import Licence (OGIL) where 
imports and exports are exempted from licences.  For certain products where import licences are 
required, the licensing system is administered by the Ministry of Industry and International Trade 
through the Control of Goods Act.  
Purpose and coverage of licensing
 
 2. Imports of certain agricultural products incl uding live animals and fuel are subject to import 
licensing.  Please refer to Statutory Instrument 350 of 1993.   Product description 
 
- Maize grain and meal 
- Maize seed 
- Wheat 
- Corn meal 
- Corn soya meal 
- Flour 
- Barley 
- Barley malt 
- Sorghum grain, meal and malt 
- Mhunga, meal and malg 
- Poultry products 
- Cotton lint, meal, seed and cake 
- Soya beans, meal, cake 
- Animal oils and fats (lard, tallow, dripping) 
- Animal semen and animal embryo 
- Apples 
- Baby corn 
                                                     
 
1 See document G/LIC/3, Annex, for the Questionnaire. G/LIC/N/3/ZWE/2 
Page 2  
 
  - Bananas 
- Beans 
- Bean meal 
- Beef, veal 
- Bees 
- Bones, bone meal 
- Butter, ghee, cream 
- Cattle, meat, hides, horns 
- Cheese 
- Citrus fruit 
- Animal feed stuff 
- Coffee beans 
- Fertilizer 
- Fish-fresh and dried 
- Goats 
- Grapes 
- Groundnuts 
- Hides and skins 
- Honey 
- Ice-cream 
- Manure 
- Meat meal, blood meal, carcass meal 
- Milk, pasteurized milk, sterilized milk, UHT milk, lacto, or any liquid milk 
- Oil seeds, oil cake, oilcake meal 
- Offals and residues from oil seeds 
- Pigs, live and dead 
- Peaches 
- Pears 
- Plums 
- Rice in the grain 
- Potatoes 
- Rapoko, rapoko meal and rapoko malt 
- Seed for planting (grains) 
- Seed for planting (trees, vegetables) 
- Skimmed milk powder and full cream milk powder 
- Sunflower 
- Sugar, raw sugar and refined sugar 
- Tea 
- Vegetables 
- Vegetable oils, vegetable fats and margarine 
- Fuel 
 3. The system applies to goods origin ating in and coming from all countries. 
 
4. The purpose of licensing is for sanitary an d phyto-sanitary requirements and statistical 
purposes.  5. The licensing system is governed by a Statutory Instrument namely SI 350 of 1993
2.  It is not 
possible for the Government to abolish the system without legislative approval. 
 6. There are no products under qua ntitative and value restrictions. 
                                                     
 
2 Available for consulta tion in the WTO Secretariat (Marke t Access Division) (English only).  G/LIC/N/3/ZWE/2 
 Page 3 
 
 
 7.(a) Application for a licence must be made before the goods arrive into the country. 
 (b) A licence may be granted immediately upon request.  
(c) There are no limitations as to the period of the year during which application for licence and 
or importation may be made. 
 (d) For fuel licences, prior recommendation is re quired from the Ministry of Energy and Power 
Development and the Ministry of Industry an d International Trade issues the permits.  For 
agricultural products, the Ministry of Agriculture issues the permits. 
 8. An application for a licence for fuel may be  refused if the importer does not have proper 
storage facilities.  For agricultural products, a licen ce may not be granted if the products are coming 
from disease prone zones.  The reasons for any refusal  are given to the applicant.  In the event of 
refusal to issue a licence, the a pplicant can appeal to the Minist ry for reconsideration of the 
application.  
Eligibility of importers to apply for licence
 
9. All persons, firms and institu tions are eligible to apply for licences.  There is no list of 
authorized importers. 
 
Documentational and other require ments for application for licence  
10. Applicants are required to include informa tion and documents on quan tity of products, value 
of products, Certificate of Incorporation, CR14, Tax Clearance Certificate and application for import 
licence. 
 
11. Upon actual importation, the importer is requi red to submit the approved import licence, the 
Certificate of Origin and othe r customs related documentation. 
 12. A licensing fee of ZW$500 000 for individuals and ZW$1 000 000 for companies is charged.  
13. There is no deposit or advance payment requirement associated with the issuance. 
 
Conditions of Licensing
 
14. A licence is valid for three months from the date of issue.  The validity can be extended 
through a request for extension. 
 
15. There is no penalty for the non-utilization of a licence or a portion of it.  16. Licences are not transferable between importers.  17. There are no other conditions att ached to the issuance of a licence. 
 
Other procedural requirements
 
18. Apart from import licensing the importer has to comply with normal customs clearance 
procedures.  
19. Importers apply for foreign currency form the Central bank. 
 
__________