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The importation of Medicines and Allied Substances is controlled by Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) which is a regulatory body established by the Medicines and Allied Substances Control Act (MASCA) (Chapter 15:03) as read with Statutory Instrument (S.I.) 150 of 1991.
The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare published the Medicines and Allied Substances Control (Import and Export of Medicines) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 57 of 2008) which came up with guidelines on the importation and exportation of registered medicines.
In terms of Section 48(2) of the Customs and Excise Act Chapter 23.02, the importation of certain goods that are restricted or controlled by the Act or any other enactment shall only be imported in conformity with the provisions of the Customs and Excise Act or such other enactment, as the case may be.
The MCAZ Regulations stipulates entry points through which medicinal substances can be imported. Many a time, importers are either inconvenienced or completely lose out when they import medicines and allied substances through undesignated ports of Entry.
The Ministry of Health guidelines seek to explain the processes involved in applying for the import or export permit for registered medicines and the clearance of imported medicine consignments at the ports of entries.
Section 5 of the MCAZ Regulations clearly states that, the importation of all consignments of medicines should be done through the designated ports of entry, which are:
Harare International Airport
Bulawayo Airport
Harare Customs
Bulawayo Customs
Plumtree Border Post
Beitbridge Border Post
Forbes Border Post
According to the guidelines, no importations through unregistered Ports of Entry like Kariba, Nyamapanda and Chirundu shall be sanctioned. The Customs and Excise Act also states, that “Any person who imports goods in contravention of this enactment shall be guilty of an offence.” Therefore, the goods so imported in contravention of the Act will be liable to seizure.
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Disclaimer
This article was compiled by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority for information purposes only. ZIMRA shall not accept responsibility for loss or damage arising from use of material in this article and no liability will attach to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.
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