LAST WEEK, the article was analysing the potential of the livestock sector in transforming the country’s economy.
Two citizens, who read the article, contacted me during the course of the week to appreciate the commentary.
“Hi Brian, I was  just reading your article in the Times of Zambia and I must say that it was well written.
“Please keep it up. You are doing a very good job. I am kindly asking for the article in soft copy and any other literature you may have on livestock farming in Zambia,” said Ronald Chirembo, a Lusaka resident.
Another person, who did not want his name published, asked if I was an agriculturalist because the article was well articulated.
The reader said he was rearing a lot of goats and he was interested in exporting the animals to the Middle East where they were in demand.
For now, I will end here on the potential of the livestock sector.
This week, I will look at Zambia’s plan to extend the Pre – Export Verification of Conformity (PVoC) programme to other products besides motor vehicles in an effort to promote quality and safety of products.
To start with, PVoC is a programme where products are verified for conformity to standards before they come into the country.
It is aimed at ensuring that products that are destined for a particular country are inspected, tested and certified before shipment to reduce on the time and cost of testing and certification at the port of entry.
Further, the cost of re-shipment is also eliminated in case of non-conforming product.
The verification is done by independent international companies specialised in conformity assessment services that are accredited to international standards.
In the case of Zambia, two service providers were contracted in 2011, namely Bureau Veritas and SGS, but contracts were suspended pending further consultations with stakeholders.
Some stakeholders were of the view that the operations of ZABS should be strengthened so that the Bureau can do the required inspection and testing work cost effectively instead of engaging an international company at a great cost.
Private Sector Development Association (PSDA) chairperson Yusuf Dodia previously questioned the engaging of SGS or another external company to do PVoC saying the move would bring new obstacles to motivating and facilitating business in the country.
Mr Dodia has a number of questions that include: Do we contract an outside company such as SGS to carry out Pre-Shipment inspections at a cost to all Zambians?
Do we push the ZABS to carry out spot or informed checks in the business community to eradicate these unscrupulous people and their goods?
If we decide to go the SGS way, what cost will it be to the public because the cost of SGS work will be passed on to the customer?
What other products will SGS pounce on for inspection in order to grow their income from Zambia?
What useful role does the ZABS offer to the Zambian business community as they abdicate their responsibility for inspection and testing?
Why should the tax payer pay twice for inspection services because the economy will be burdened by the cost of running ZABS and the cost of engaging SGS?
The verification process consists of the modules namely physical inspection; sampling and testing; document verification and factory assessment (for certified products).
PVoC, which is currently limited to imported motor vehicles, is a programme under the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry and it has been implemented by ZABS since 2009.
The PVoC programme has been introduced in countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe and it has proven beneficial in the control of quality of products on their markets.
Currently, the Ministry in partnership with ZABS is meeting stakeholders throughout the country to discuss the development and implementation of PVoC programme in Zambia to help control the quality of products on the market.
According to the director of Industry at the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry Tobias Mulimbika, the PVoc programme is aimed at preventing the importation of products not meeting quality or safety standards.
Mr Mulimbika says the programme is also aimed at protecting the consumer and safeguarding the interests of importers.
The first phase of the program commenced on February 9, 2016 until February 19, 2016 and it is covering Western, Southern, Copperbelt, Eastern, North-Western and Central provinces while the rest of the provinces will be covered in the second phase.
The outcome of the consultative meeting will help us chart the way forward in terms of implementing the programme in Zambia,” Mr Mulimbika said in Livingstone last week when a team of experts from his Ministry and ZABS conducted a stakeholders meeting for the business community in Zambia’s tourist capital.
The Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry through ZABS is planning to extend the PVoC to cover general goods aimed at ensuring products that are destined for Zambia are inspected, tested and certified before shipment.
Proposed products to be included under the PVoC are toys, sport equipment and childcare products, electrical and electronics, vehicle spare parts, chemical, mechanical products and building materials.
Others are gas equipment and appliances, textile and footwear, furniture, paper and stationary, safety equipment, food and used products.
The plan to extend the PVoC to include other products is welcome as it will bring a lot of benefits to the Zambian economy.
For instance, the PVoC ensures that imported goods are accompanied by Certificates of Conformity (CoC) thereby easing the clearance process at entry.
There is also reduced turnaround time in the clearance of goods at the port of entry while the scheme allows modernisation of clearance systems at the ports by integrating activities of border agencies.
Further, the Program prevents the importation of substandard goods as non-compliant goods are screened at source and in the supply country.
In Zambia, however, the problem of having substandard products on the market is huge as some commodities usually elude regulators at border points and enter the country illegally.
There are some unscrupulous importers and exporters out there that have a habit of shipping sub-standard goods to sell to the unsuspecting market in Zambia.
For instance, the Government banned the importation of underwear in 2006 but some people still sell such imported underwear on the market.
Some of the factors contributing to poor quality of locally manufactured products include poor technology,  unskilled labour, lack of competition, high cost of borrowing and low quality awareness.
Worse still, some consumers take pride in buying cheap and sub-standard products and hence such behaviour is increasing the demand for inferior products.
This trend can only be stopped when buyers reject substandard products that are on sale on the domestic market.
The PVoC programme also contributes to the decongestion of the ports through fast and efficient clearing of goods through the use of CoCs.
It further provides the country with an effective and efficient tool to enhance the compliance to standards of both imported goods and locally manufactured goods as the same conformity assessment measures are applied to both imported and locally manufactured goods.
As a result, the program protects consumers and local industry as they are assured of quality and safe products on the market.
Kariba Textiles, which is a textile manufacturing firm operating in Livingstone, has already laid down more than 150 workers due to operational challenges arising from the influx of influx of cheap and poor quality blankets on the Zambian market.
Textiles are under voluntary standards currently and this is why many types of blankets find themselves on the Zambian market.
Mr Mulimbika has since asked Kariba Textiles and other textile manufacturers to come up with specific industry based standard for textiles and propose it to be made compulsory to protect the industry.
To date,  about 3, 000 Zambian standards have been published out of which only 50 are compulsory while the rest are voluntary.
By common practice, standards are generally implimented on a voluntary rather than mandatory basis, with the exception of those deemed by Government to affect public or safety, or to significantly impact the environment or the economy.
Other benefits of the PVoC include a reduction in fraudulent transactions and enhanced fight against counterfeit products.
Pre-export verification frther prevents unfair competition as well as simplifies procedures and hastens customs clearance.
It also avoids re-export of non-compliant goods to countries of origin.
The changes in the economic policy of Zambia, which led to introduction of an open market economy around 1992, has resulted in an influx of different products on the Zambian market from all over the world.
However, it is important that such products are screened to promote their safety and quality on the market.
Therefore, the extension of the PVoC to include other products is an appropriate undertaking as consumers will be assured of quality and safety of a broader range of products on the market.
Various stakeholders should take advantage of the ongoing countrywide consultative meetings to develop and implement the (PVoC) programme in Zambia to help control the quality of products on the market.
Send your comments to bmhats@gmail.com or call 0977 6660664 or 0954 516410