Zimbabwe is a landlocked developing country with a population of 14 million, sharing common borders with Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia. Zimbabwe has 14 border posts, varying in size in accordance with the volume of traffic passing through them. Beitbridge, the only border post with South Africa, is the largest and busiest, owing to the fact that it is the gateway to the sea for most countries along the North-South Corridor. Zimbabwe thus provides a critical trade link between several countries in the southern African regions. The need for the country, especially its border posts, to play a trade facilitative role can therefore not be overemphasised.

Trade facilitation has become an important issue on the multilateral, regional and Zimbabwean trade agendas, and with it, border management efficiency. Border management concerns the administration of borders. Border agencies are responsible for the processing of people and goods at points of entry and exit, as well as for the detection and regulation of people and goods attempting to cross borders illegally. Efficient border management requires the cooperation of all border management agencies and such cooperation can only be achieved if proper coordination mechanisms, legal framework and institutions are established.

This study explores how border agencies in Zimbabwe operate and cooperate in border management. The objectives of the study were to:

• Identify agencies involved in border management in Zimbabwe;
• Analyse the scope of their role/involvement in border management; and
• Review domestic policy and legislation (statutes of these agencies) specifically to identify the legal provisions that facilitate cooperation among them

Readers are encouraged to quote and reproduce this material for educational, non-profit purposes, provided the source is acknowledged. All views and opinions expressed remain solely those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of tralac.

The COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite was created in 2006 to assist in the process of harmonising programmes and policies within and between the three Regional Economic Communities of COMESA, EAC and SADC and to advance the establishment of the African Economic Community. The three main pillars of the Tripartite strategy, as contained in the Vision and Strategy document that was endorsed at the second Tripartite Summit in June 2011 are Market Integration, Infrastructure Development and Industrial Development.

In the Tripartite region the costs of transport, in particular road transport (which accounts for about 95% of the volume of cargo transported in the region), is directly related to the time taken for the journey. The typical charge for a stationary truck is between US$200 to US$400 a day. Therefore, if a truck takes 3 days to clear a border (which is not excessive in the COMESA-EAC-SADC region) the transporter will pass on an additional cost of between US$600 to US$1,200 for the cost of the truck sitting idle at the border to the importer. This will, in turn, be passed on to the importer’s client and ultimately, to the consumer.

Until the underlying causes of these high costs of transport are addressed African countries will remain high-cost producers, with no major direct investments taking place in non-mineral sectors, restricted economic growth opportunities and slow progress made in poverty alleviation. An integral part of the Tripartite Free Trade Area is the design and implementation of a programme that is aimed at improving trade and transport measures and reducing non-tariff barriers to trade.

The aim of this paper is to describe the main components of the Tripartite trade facilitation and non-tariff barrier programmes and put these programmes into a regional and a multilateral context.

Readers are encouraged to quote and reproduce this material for educational, non-profit purposes, provided the source is acknowledged. All views and opinions expressed remain solely those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of tralac.