The Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry has flagged off and delivered baggage scanners procured under the Zambia Border Post Upgrading Project (ZBPUP) to the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) for use at Chirundu, Mwami and Nakonde One Stop Border Posts.
Representing the Permanent Secretary for Trade, Mrs. Lillian Bwalya, Dr. Simon Ng’ona, Director of the Department of Foreign Trade, emphasized that the flag-off signifies a significant milestone in achieving Zambia’s broader trade facilitation objectives.
Dr. Ng’ona stated that the baggage scanners are meant to facilitate clearance of passengers and small-scale cross border traders.
“The current practice at our borders is to inspect passenger baggage physically and manually and this takes a lot of time. With these baggage scanners, we envisage that the process of passenger clearance will be reduced as a result of the use of the equipment as well as enhance security of passengers and Border Officials as the X ray technology in the scanners produces detailed imagery of contents of a container or bag,” said Dr. Ng’ona.
And speaking at the same event, Dr Dev Haman, Assistant Secretary General, Administration and Finance at the COMESA Secretariat reechoed that this was a significant milestone for both Zambia and the COMESA region in their efforts to strengthen border security and enhance trade facilitation.
Dr. Haman further said that with their advanced detection capabilities, the scanners will enable our border enforcement agencies to identify, and intercept prohibited items, including weapons, explosives, drugs and contraband goods with greater precision and efficiency.
Meanwhile, Matthias Reusing, Counsellor at the Delegation of the European Union to Zambia and COMESA added that as we approach the final year of the EU – COMESA Trade Facilitation programme, the EU shows once again that they deliver on their promises and that the introduction of the baggage scanners represents a leap forward in their ongoing efforts to ensure seamless and secure border crossing within the COMESA region.
And ZRA Acting Commissioner – Corporate Support Services, Mr. Timothy Milambo thanked all the stakeholders for the baggage scanners as they are a game changer in facilitating passenger clearance across the country and that with this equipment in place, ZRA will work tirelessly to attain its target of reducing the average clearance time of passengers from approximately 8 hours to less than an hour from the time of arrival.