Customs and Excise (Clothing Manufacturer) (Suspension) Regulations, 2026

Clothing manufacturers can import fabric and trim free of customs duty from 1 January 2026, provided they register with ZIMRA first. The scheme replaces the Clothing Manufacturer Rebate Regulations of 2021, which are repealed.

Registration is a real process, not a formality. You apply on Form CMR 1, must already be registered with ZIMRA and hold a valid tax clearance certificate, and a customs officer inspects your premises and machinery before the Commissioner sees the application. If approved, you must build stores on your premises that can be secured with customs locks at your own expense, and enter into a bond on Form 143 with surety in an amount the Commissioner sets. The registration fee is halved if you register after 30 June, and renewal is due annually on or before 31 January. The regulations do not state the amount of either fee — they say only "the prescribed amount", so the figure has to come from ZIMRA.

The conditions of use are strict. Suspended materials may be stored nowhere but the customs-locked stores. Imports must be entered at the port of entry nearest your premises, with a signed declaration that the goods are solely for making clothing. You must keep a stock-book in a form the Commissioner approves, and if you do not, any materials received while it was not kept are treated as diverted and the duty falls due. The stock-book and the premises are open to inspection at any time, and nothing may be disposed of without written authority and payment of the suspended duty.

There is an annual reporting obligation that carries real teeth. Within thirty days of each twelve-month period you must report to the Minister on the benefits achieved — incremental employment, capacity utilisation, new investment, output growth, research and development, CD1 forms discharged if you export, corporate social responsibility, and environmental protection. Miss it and the suspension is withdrawn immediately, everything received in the gap is deemed diverted, and the suspended revenue plus a record-keeping penalty falls due at once.

The eligible materials run to well over a hundred tariff codes: cotton and blended woven fabrics, denim, canvas of 340 g/m² and above, synthetic and polyester staple fabrics, nonwovens, corduroy and chenille, tulle, woven labels and badges, coated and impregnated fabrics, knitted and crocheted fabrics, shoulder pads and garment accessories, press-studs and snap-fasteners, button blanks and moulds, zips and zip parts, and thermo ink foil printing ribbons.

Fifty-six companies are listed as approved as at the effective date, among them Paramount Export, Archer Clothing, Jacaranda Textiles, Concorde Textiles, Matebeleland Clothing and Enbee Stores. Registration can be cancelled if a manufacturer stops making clothing, breaches the regulations, fails to pay the renewal fee, or asks — and on cancellation all suspended duty becomes payable immediately.