Cost of Shipping a Container to Zimbabwe

Just like every other country in the world, special attention is given to the documentation process for someone shipping cargo or goods to Zimbabwe. The documentation process requires the shipper to make available important documents such as a bill of lading, certificate of origin, bill of entry, suppliers’ invoices, value declaration form, cargo manifest, insurance statement, agent/importer’s worksheet, packing list, and tax clearance certificate to the authorities in charge of regulating or monitoring shipments into the country.

A bill of lading is one of several documents required for shipping commercial cargo into a country. It is a very important document that ensures that an exporter gets paid and the importer receives his goods as well. The document contains details of the contract of carriage and it is issued by the carrier or mover. Additionally, the document sometimes serves as a receipt for the shipper or importer.

If a person loses the bill of lading for his cargo, the person is obliged to get a letter from the mover that clearly states that the bill of lading is lost. However, in some cases where the letter is not sufficient enough, the person should get a letter of indemnity drafted by a bank or insurance company, and a court order.

Authorities in Zimbabwe do not allow the importation of certain items into the country and this is mostly centered on economic and safety reasons.

For instance, items like harmful drugs, expired drugs, hazardous substances, pornographic materials, bleaching creams, bleaching soaps, and bleaching lotions are not allowed into the country.

Taxes and duties are mandatory fees imposed by the government of a country on imported products.

Zimbabwe uses the GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs) system for their tariffs, and their duties range majorly between 15% and 20%. Import duties, value-added tax, and surtax are the major levies imposed by the government of Zimbabwe on imported goods or cargo.

Shipping duties are tariffs imposed by the government on imported goods, and it’s based on the type of goods you are importing. The major goal of a shipping duty is to reduce dependency on foreign products.

Shipping Taxes on the other hand are levies that the government places on all purchases of goods and services in the country.

There are few cases whereby a container is built to be waterproofed; however, the majority of shipping containers are built to be water-resistant. In other words, they are built in a way that normal rainfall is kept out of it.

Also, most shipping containers are built with small pressure vents which allows the container to get ventilated. However, ensure that your shipping container is new because old ones may not be well-ventilated.

Although the three of them do play important roles in the shipping of cargo into a country, there is a dissimilarity between them.

An NVOCC operation involves sales and transporting of the vessel to gateway ports, while the broker is the middleman handling negotiations between the shipper and the carrier. A freight forwarder only takes charge of all the processes involved in shipping the goods from the manufacturer to the final destination.

Generally, the 20ft and 40ft containers are the ones used for international shipping; however, there’s a maximum weight demand for these containers.

The 20ft container is able to accommodate a cargo that is weighing up to 28 tons, while a 40ft container is capable of carrying cargo that is weighing up to 29 tons.

The transit time for a “Full Container Load”, “empty container” shipment and a “Less Than Container Load” shipment differ from each other. This is because an entire container is being used by one customer for an FCL shipment, which enables a straightforward transition of goods from the origin to their destination. In contrast, an LCL shipment involves many people sharing the space in one container for their shipments, which tends to give a haphazard route pattern for the goods in the container.

It is very important for a shipper to have insurance for his cargo. Aside from the fact that an insurance statement or an insurance cover is one of the most important documents needed by importers, the insurance tends to provide a financial backup for your goods or cargo in case the cargo experiences damages or a shipping accident.