grain milling industry |
The grain
milling industry has appealed to Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Mike
Bimha to engage Health and Child Welfare Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa
to rescind his decision to impose a mandatory fortification programme
citing lack of adequate consultation on the matter, among other reasons.
Through
Statutory Instrument 120 of 2017, Dr Parirenyatwa set July 1 as the date
for the commencement of mandatory fortification of the country's four
main food commodities namely sugar, cooking oil, maize meal and flour.
"We appeal
to you as our line minister responsible for the industry to engage, on
our behalf, your colleague the Minister of Health and Child Welfare, to
rescind his administrative decision contained in the SI 120 of 2017, to
impose Mandatory Fortification programme with effect from July 1, 2017,"
Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe chairman Tafadzwa Musarara said
in the letter to Dr Bimha.
The appeal
to Dr Bimha was based on the fact that there was no sufficient
consultation within Government as the Ministry of Industry and Commerce
and other relevant Government entities such as the Reserve bank of
Zimbabwe, were left out in the process. "In essence the health minister
regulated the activities of an industry that falls under another
ministry without consulting the responsible it.
"The SI
120 compels the milling industry to import some artificial nutrients
inhabited in powder from substance called fortificants from countries in
Europe and Asia and insert them into mealie meal and wheat flour. The
milling industry is currently battling to clear $63 million nostro
liabilities," Mr Musarara said.
For
instance, the imported wheat and maize that was milled in the 2016
festive season has not been paid for yet. "There are no local
manufacturers of these fortificants and the dosing machinery and as
such, mandatory fortification will worsen the milling industry nostro
currency liabilities," GMAZ said.
This is
the second letter with reference to fortification that GMAZ has lodged
this month having written directly to the Health and Child Welfare
Minister earlier on. The millers said last September, Minister
Parirenyatwa had committed that he would obtain duty exemption on the
dosing machinery and fortificants but this has not been done.
Customs
duty still applies making the whole venture expensive ultimately to the
consumer. They also argue that mandatory food fortification would cost
about $20 million to import the equipment and machinery for the process
and about $7 million monthly for the importation of fortificants.
Furthermore they argued that the 14 million consumers of maize meal and
wheat flour have not been consulted.
"Secondly,
there is no meaningful awareness campaign being done to inform and
procure consumer acceptance on the food fortification. The risks that
arise, from a business perspective, is that consumers may resist these
artificial additives resulting in significant slump of sales which will
precipitate unprecedented losses to millers," said Mr Musarara.
"The
mandatory fortification programme is only going to apply selectively to
commercial millers and exempt hammer millers. "Blessed with bumper maize
harvest this year and considering that 70 percent of the country's
population resides in the rural areas, it is expected that in the next
six months and indeed the first six months of every subsequent harvest,
48 percent of the maize will be processed into mealie meal by hammer
millers. This defeats the purpose of mandatory fortification as the most
nutrient deficient people live in the rural areas," GMAZ argued.
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