Harare – Alarming levels of counterfeit and smuggled goods are flooding Zimbabwe’s informal retail sector, posing a significant health hazard to consumers, a senior government official has warned. Douglas Runyowa, chief director for commerce in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, revealed to parliament that nearly 50 percent of groceries seized during a recent blitz targeting tuck shops and vending stalls have been tested and confirmed to be fake.
Giving oral evidence before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce on Tuesday, Runyowa painted a grim picture of the situation. “Most of what we have seen in the informal sector is quite shocking, and in our awareness programmes, we are saying it might be cheap but it’s coming at an expense to your health, because we cannot guarantee what is not there,” he said.
He emphasised the lack of certification from health authorities, stating, “Our health authorities have not certified some of those goods safe and fit for human consumption, hence we really need to intensify our efforts through an all-stakeholder approach and its a fight that would also be needed for our portfolio committee to help us intensify, because really what is out there is quite scary.”
Runyowa informed legislators that a recent ministry survey revealed that a staggering 50 percent of goods sold in informal retail shops fail to meet the required standards. “I would like to, not to scare you, but to advise you that we recently carried out a survey with the Standards Association of Zimbabwe where we went and bought products from the shelf and took them for testing and compared what was written in the results; 50 percent of the products did not comply,” he explained. He cited examples of counterfeit Vaseline, flour, rice, and toothpaste, describing the situation as “an alarming rate.”
The ministry official highlighted the ongoing blitz against counterfeit and smuggled goods, which began last year, as a successful initiative. “You will be aware that over the last quarter, going back to October, there has been intensified blitz against counterfeit goods, against smuggled goods, so much so that even this afternoon we are actually destroying about four tonnes of goods that were actually confiscated during that practice, to ensure that we remove them from the shelves, because we cannot guarantee our people that they are actually consuming safe goods,” he said.
He appealed for parliament’s support in combating the proliferation of substandard and fake products. “We want to also join hands with you in this particular fight, which we have really intensified from our side as a ministry,” Runyowa urged.
The proliferation of informal grocery traders and the products they sell has negatively impacted formal retail shops, with big supermarket chains experiencing business losses as consumers turn to spaza shops for cheaper goods. Some retail shops have been forced to close or reduce their operations due to competition from the informal sector.
In a related development, large quantities of counterfeit, substandard, and underweight goods confiscated by the Anti-Smuggling Taskforce were destroyed at the Geo Pomona Waste Management site in Harare this Tuesday. This action underscores the government’s commitment to protecting consumers from the dangers posed by illegal products that fail to meet required standards.
Consumer Protection Commission Director, Mr Kudakwashe Mudereri, expressed his concern about the increasing prevalence of counterfeit and underweight products in Harare’s informal markets. “We have seen a sudden proliferation of counterfeit and substandard products, expired goods, and underweight products flooding the market. This operation was conducted to safeguard our consumers,” he said.
Mudereri emphasised the serious health risks associated with these products. “Many of these products pose serious health risks. We have partnered with Geo Pomona to ensure that all products failing to meet required standards are destroyed so they do not pose a danger to consumers. We are grateful to Geo Pomona for their support in this initiative,” he added.
Mr Tawedzera Muwani, the Harare Metropolitan Province’s Anti-Smuggling Taskforce Coordinator, stressed the importance of transparency and accountability in handling confiscated goods. “This is just the beginning. We want to demonstrate evidence and transparency that smuggled and illegal goods, including those that are substandard or short-weight, will be destroyed. We do not take them home, and we do not allow them to re-enter the market,” he stated.
Muwani expressed gratitude to various government entities for their collaboration in the effort. “This exercise is a demonstration of what’s to come. We extend our gratitude to all the government entities we’ve worked with including the City of Harare, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, CPC, and ZRP for their efforts in this endeavour. By destroying these goods, we show our commitment to eradicating illegal and substandard products from the market,” he concluded.
