Customs and Excise (Designation of Foreign Currency Dutiable Goods) (Amendment) Notice, 2024 (No. 6)
Other unleaded petrol (commodity code 2710.12.13) is added to the list of goods on which customs duty must be paid in foreign currency — fuel importers should budget in US dollars for that line.
The Minister of Finance has added one more line to the schedule of goods whose duty must be paid in foreign currency. The new entry is commodity code 2710.12.13, "other unleaded petrol", inserted immediately after code 2710.12.12.
The schedule being amended is the one in the Customs and Excise (Designation of Foreign Currency Dutiable Goods) Notice, 2018 (S.I. 252A of 2018), which is the master list of foreign-currency dutiable goods. This is the sixth amendment to it in 2024.
The practical effect is narrow but real: duty on petrol falling under that tariff line can no longer be settled in local currency. Importers and clearing agents should check which code their consignment is entered under before lodging the bill of entry.
The notice sets no rate — it only designates the currency of payment. The applicable duty rate is unchanged and must be read from the customs tariff.
One oddity worth flagging: the running head on the gazette page reads "S.I. 67 of 2024" although the instrument is numbered 161 of 2024. That is a printing artefact, not a second instrument.
What changed
- Commodity code 2710.12.13, "other unleaded petrol", is added to the schedule of goods on which duty is payable in foreign currency
- The insertion sits immediately after existing commodity code 2710.12.12 in the schedule to S.I. 252A of 2018
Who this affects
- fuel importers bringing in unleaded petrol
- clearing agents at Beitbridge, Forbes and Chirundu
- ZIMRA customs officers
- bonded fuel storage operators
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.