Zimbabwe Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in zimbabwe, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Standards for Trade
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Overview

Zimbabwe has various laws requiring retailers and manufacturers to maintain specific standards. The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe advises consumers about their rights, while the Standards Association of Zimbabwe and Bureau Veritas are responsible for certifying the quality of most non-medical goods produced or imported into the country.

The Medicines Control Association of Zimbabwe oversees the registration of drugs and regulates their sale, advertising, manufacture, possession, and safe custody. 

Standards

Zimbabwe benchmarks its products against international standards established by the International Organization for Standards (ISO), a global federation of national standards bodies from member countries.

Testing, Inspection and Certification

The Medicines Control Association of Zimbabwe is generally more proactive than the Standards Association of Zimbabwe in ensuring conformity within the pharmaceuticals sector. In 2015, the Government of Zimbabwe (GOZ) implemented the consignment-based conformity assessment (CBCA) program by contracting the French company Bureau Veritas to verify and assess compliance with standards and declared values of most goods in exporting countries before shipment. Bureau Veritas reviews documentation, inspects products, and, in some cases, performs laboratory testing. Once satisfied with the assessment, Bureau Veritas issues a CBCA certificate. Goods arriving in Zimbabwe without the required CBCA certificate are refused entry.
To enhance the CBCA program and improve turnaround times, the GOZ added three more service providers: the Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ), Cotecna Inspection Societe Anonym (SA) of Switzerland, and the EAA Company Limited of Japan.

In addition, the Quality Control Department of the Standards Association of Zimbabwe carries out product certification as well at: 17 Coventry Road, Workington, Harare, Zimbabwe, Tel: 263 24 2753 800-2.

Publication of Technical Regulations

Both the Medicines Control Association of Zimbabwe and the Standards Association of Zimbabwe are involved in accreditation of products produced or imported into the country

Use ePing to review proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures. 

The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert.org/), or “ePing,” provides access to notifications made by World Trade Organization (WTO) Members under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995 to present.  ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and and is a versatile tool that can be used to

•    Follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest,
•    Receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are distributed,
•    Find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees.
 

Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates an Enquiry Point. National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat. All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point. Refer to the comment guidance at https://www.nist.gov/notifyus/commenting for further information. This guidance is provided to assist U.S. stakeholders in the preparation and submission of comments in response to notifications of proposed foreign technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures. 

Contact Information 
Standards Association of Zimbabwe
Northend Close, Northridge Park, Borrowdale, Harare.
Tel: +263 242 882017/8/9, 242882021, 242885511/2

Medicines Control Association of Zimbabwe
106 Baines Avenue, Harare
Tel: 263 242 736 981

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