Applicable rates depend on the category of goods, but in general, the government charges higher import duties on finished goods than on raw materials and intermediate goods, as a means of assisting the country’s manufacturing sector.  There are three different types of payments upon importation of goods into Zimbabwe: import duty, surtax, and value added tax (VAT) as described in the Harmonized System Tariffs Handbook and other relevant legislation.  Most imported goods are subject to surtax and VAT of 15 percent.  The government uses the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) method of customs valuation.

Import tariffs may be reduced or waived where there are suspensions, rebates, bilateral and multilateral agreements, and remissions.  Applicable tariff rates are set out in the Customs Tariff Handbook published in the form of the GOZ’s statutory instrument. 

The government directed in June 2022 that all transactions be done using the interbank or willing-buyer/willing-seller foreign exchange rate which remained well below the parallel market rate.   Although the government banned the use of foreign currencies for domestic transactions in 2019, in March 2020 it again allowed the U.S. dollar to be used for all transactions as a temporary measure to facilitate economic activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED) introduced measures in June 2022 to stabilize the exchange rate and address inflation, including writing the use of the U.S. dollar and the inter-bank market exchange rate into law.

The government reduced the foreign currency surrender requirements in February 2023 for all exporters from 40 percent to 25 percent and abolished the policy that forced companies selling products domestically in foreign currency to convert 20 percent of such sales into Zimbabwe dollars (see Investment Climate Statement below). 

The GOZ removed import duties and removed import licenses on several basic commodities in May 2023 for 12 months.  The products included among others, cooking oil, sugar, soap, maize meal, to improve the availability of such products on the local market and reduce inflation.

All exports require a customs declaration form (CD1) to ensure that exporters remit proceeds back to the country within 90 days.  Some wildlife products are restricted through international conventions governing their trade, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).