Zimbabwe Restricts Importation of 2nd-Hand Vehicles

Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Professor Mthuli Ncube has restricted the importation of second-hand vehicles older than 10 years in a bid to control the high import bill and promote the local motor industry.

He made the directive while announcing the 2021 national budget on the 26th of November remarking that commercial vehicles such as tractors, haulage trucks, earth-moving equipment and other specialised vehicles used in mining and construction will be exempt from the requirement. He said:

About US$1.3 billion was spent on imported buses, light commercial and passenger motor vehicles from 2015 to September 2020. This is despite the existence of capacity by the local motor industry to assemble the above-mentioned range of motor vehicles.

In line with the National Development Strategy 1, which underscores value addition, I propose to remove second hand motor vehicles aged 10 years and above, from the date of manufacture at the time of importation, from the Open General Import Licence.

Individuals and companies intending to import second-hand vehicles older than 10 years will now require a special permit from the ministry of trade.

Zimbabweans import thousands of second-hand vehicles every year, mainly from Japan and the United Kingdom as the country does not have a motor industry, although Quest Motors has been assembling Chery, Foton, Foton Daimler JMC and Zhongtong Bus at its plant in Mutare.

More: Zimbabwe 2021 National Budget