Customs and Excise (Tariff) (Amendment) Notice, 2024 (No. 6)
Electronic cigarettes and vaping devices now attract excise of US$0.50 per ml or per unit on top of 40% customs duty, and blueberries get their own tariff line at 40%.
The Minister of Finance has amended the Customs and Excise (Tariff) Notice, 2022 (S.I. 203 of 2022) on two points.
The biggest change is on vapes. Electronic cigarettes and similar personal electric vaporising devices, commodity code 8543.40.00, previously carried 40 per cent duty (general and MFN). The rate is now shown as '40% + excise', and a new item is inserted into the Second Schedule — the excise schedule — charging US$0.5 per ml or per unit on the same code. Importers and retailers of vaping products therefore face a new per-millilitre excise charge in addition to the 40 per cent import duty.
The second change is a tariff split for berries. The old single line 0810.40.00 for cranberries, bilberries and other fruits of the genus Vaccinium is deleted and replaced with two lines: 0810.40.10 for blueberry and 0810.40.90 for other. Both keep the 40 per cent general and MFN rate, so the change is about statistical and trade classification of Zimbabwe's growing blueberry trade rather than about the amount of duty.
The notice was published in a Government Gazette Extraordinary dated 31 July 2024 and states no separate commencement date. The tariff tables as printed have some column headings out of place, but the codes, descriptions and rates themselves are legible.
What changed
- New excise of US$0.5 per ml or per unit on electronic cigarettes and vaporising devices (8543.40.00), inserted into the Second Schedule
- The First Schedule rate for 8543.40.00 becomes 40% general and MFN plus excise
- Tariff line 0810.40.00 (cranberries, bilberries, Vaccinium fruit) deleted
- Replaced by 0810.40.10 Blueberry and 0810.40.90 Other, both at 40% general and MFN
Who this affects
- Importers, distributors and retailers of e-cigarettes and vape liquid
- Vape users, who will see the excise in retail prices
- Blueberry growers and exporters
- Clearing agents and ZIMRA tariff classification officers
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.