THE Millers Association of Zimbabwe (MAZ) would be disbanded this month with its membership migrating to the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ), The Financial Gazette can reveal.

MAZ mainly comprise the country's largest milling companies namely National Foods Limited (Natfoods), a subsidiary of Innscor Africa Limited, Blue Ribbon Industries (BRI) and Victoria Foods, owned by agro-industrial giant CFI Limited.

GMAZ has a membership numbering up to 200, largely drawn from the small to medium-size millers.

Sources revealed this week that high-level talks between GMAZ and MAZ executives were nearing conclusion in what would see large and small millers speak with one voice.

The industry had previously been split into two categories after small-scale millers protested at what then appeared to be preferential treatment MAZ was giving to the big three, Natfoods, BRI and Victoria, leading to the formation of GMAZ.

"The disbandment of MAZ will strengthen the effectiveness of GMAZ, which will become an all-encompassing voice of the milling industry.

We see this development further improving our lobby initiatives by ensuring that for once the industry speaks with one voice," said an industry source.

"While government had absolutely no problem with the current arrangement, we felt on our own that we were giving the Ministry of Industry and International Trade and the National Incomes and Pricing Commission (NIPC), among others, too much on their lap when we can make their work much easier," added the source.

The sources said the existence of two lobby groups in the milling industry was overloading the NIPC and government, which had to sift through rims of documentation from GMAZ and MAZ when it could do with one position paper.

Contacted this week for comment MAZ chairman Mike Manga said: "I can confirm that development. We want to achieve unity of purpose in pursuing industry issues. Discussions are in progress."

MAZ and GMAZ are expected to upraise officials at the Industry Ministry of the development next week.

Sources said GMAZ, whose chairman Tafadzwa Musarara was said to be out of the country on business, was almost through with consultations among its members with Bulawayo having endorsed the absorption of MAZ members.

"The leadership of GMAZ has been to Bulawayo to consult members in the southern region and has done the same thing with Harare. While that process is still underway, they haven't come across anything that could militate against the incorporation of MAZ members into GMAZ," added a source.

The merger is taking place at a time when government has intensified its crackdown against the milling industry, which it is accusing of violating price controls.

Last week Manga, who doubles up as the group chief executive officer of BRI was arrested for increasing the price of flour without the NIPC's authority.

Manga's arrest, the second arrest after a similar incident in February 2007, followed hard on the heels of the arrest of Natfoods managing director Jeremy Brooke on similar charges the previous week.

Brooke and Manga are currently on bail.

Millers are currently grappling with severe shortages of grain, particularly wheat and maize, a situation that has been compounded by government's reluctance to offer them viable prices.

To beat the price controls and save their operations from collapse, millers have been asking buyers to pay separate invoices for the controlled grain and transport charges.

In October last year, government de-registered more than 100 trading licences citing alleged violations of trading rules i.e. hoarding, side marketing and overpricing of maize meal. The millers were later re-registering.