Customs and Excise (Tariff) (Amendment) Notice, 2024 (No. 6)
Petrol imported by road now carries excise of US$0.55 a litre — up from the US$0.30/L that applied to free-funds imports — while petrol coming through the NOIC pipeline keeps its own code and 0% duty.
This tariff amendment splits unleaded petrol into two customs treatments depending on how it enters Zimbabwe.
A new commodity code 2710.12.13 is inserted into the First Schedule of the 2022 Tariff Notice for "other unleaded petrol", carrying 0% duty plus excise under both the General and Most Favoured Nation columns. The existing entry in the Second Schedule — covering unleaded petrol imported using free funds for own use by companies or by designated fuel service stations selling in foreign currency, at US$0.30 per litre — is deleted and replaced with a flat entry for "other unleaded petrol" at US$0.55 per litre.
The explanatory notes (which the instrument says are not part of it) make the practical rule clear: "other unleaded petrol" means petrol imported by road. Code 2710.12.12 is to be used only where petrol comes in through the pipeline under National Oil Infrastructure Company facilities, and then only where the mandatory ethanol blending regulations are complied with.
The effect is that road imports of petrol are now charged at a single higher rate regardless of who funded them, and the old distinction between free-funds imports and other imports falls away. Importers filing bills of entry must pick the correct code, because the pipeline code and the road code now attract very different amounts.
The instrument states no separate commencement date; it was published in an Extraordinary Gazette dated 27 September 2024.
What changed
- New commodity code 2710.12.13 inserted for "other unleaded petrol" at 0% duty plus excise
- The US$0.30 per litre rate for free-funds and designated-service-station petrol imports is deleted
- Petrol under the new code is charged US$0.55 per litre
- Code 2710.12.12 is restricted to petrol imported through NOIC pipeline facilities, subject to mandatory ethanol blending
- The distinction between free-funds imports and other imports no longer determines the rate for road imports
Who this affects
- fuel importers bringing petrol into Zimbabwe by road
- designated fuel service stations selling in foreign currency
- clearing agents filing bills of entry for petroleum products
- companies that previously imported petrol using free funds for own use
- NOIC pipeline users
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.