Zambia impounds second-hand clothes imported as surgical gloves

Officials at a border entry in northern Zambia have impounded over 300 bales of second-hand clothes which were disguised as surgical gloves, a senior official said on Monday.

The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), the country's revenue collection agency, said the second-hand clothes were sized at Nakonde Border on Saturday, after unscrupulous traders attempted to smuggle them into the country under the pretexts that the contraband contained surgical gloves in order to avoid paying full value import duty.

Oliver Nzala, ZRA corporate communications manager said alert officers intercepted the bales after a physical inspection of the goods when the owner had already indicated they were surgical gloves and only paid a minimal fee.

He said in a statement that the importer declared that the goods were surgical gloves and was only made to pay 234 Zambian Kwacha (23 U.S. dollars) as Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) processing fee because surgical gloves were duty free.

"But the physical inspection revealed that the goods were second-hand clothes and not surgical gloves as declared," he said.

He added that both the truck and the goods have been seized for the offense of false declaration, adding that the revenue agency has now intensified operations in border entries to curb smuggling and other avenues that were making the government lose colossal sums of money. Endit