Government( Zimbabwe) has cut financial support to some parastatals as part of the efforts to deal with pressures on the fiscus and to force rapid formulation and implementation of turnaround strategies by the State-owned entities, sources have said. While the actual number of the affected companies could not be ascertained, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has already communicated that position.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said it was time to put under those parastatals who were not performing well, and we should learn from the successful experience of Asian tigers economies which include China, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea to let the state-owned entities play a better role.

The implementation of Government’s new pre-shipment regulations under the Consignment-Based Conformity Assessment (CBCA) programme took off with a host of challenges on Tuesday morning. The new regulations, which were gazetted in December last year and require that goods be tested for conformity with required standards prior importation into Zimbabwe, took effect on March 1^st.

However the new developments have seen cargo piling up on the south side of the border with most importers failing to produce the required transitional certificate of conformity.

Bureau Veritas was appointed by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce for the verification and the assessment of conformity of goods in exporting countries. Its liaison officer for Zimbabwe, Mr Tendai Malunga said his organization was ready for the implementation of the CBCA programme.