Harare — Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono has blasted ZimTrade officials for misleading a parliamentary portfolio committee by accusing him of stopping the trade promotion body from collecting a surcharge from service sectors.

ZimTrade officials who appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade recently claimed that they were having operational problems because Dr Gono had written them a letter in 2008 instructing them not to collect surcharges from the mining, agriculture and tourism sectors, among others.

Dr Gono said this on Tuesday when he appeared before the portfolio committee, chaired by Zaka East House of Assembly Member Samson Mukanduri (Zanu-PF) to answer questions as to whether he had restricted ZimTrade operations.

Dr Gono said that he had merely reminded ZimTrade to collect surcharge according to the Zimtrade Act of 1991, which restricted the trade promotion from collecting surcharge from certain sectors.

"It's a pity that there are still some people who are in the habit of passing blame. If ZimTrade had done their work properly by understanding their Act, they wouldn't have tried to mislead this committee. I only reminded them to abide by their Act.

"Their Act only allows them to collect surcharge from some sectors excluding mining and other service sectors. They should have looked into their Act to check if there are any clauses which jeopardise their operations and then approach the parent ministry to craft amendments to the legislation," Dr Gono said.

The Trade Development Surcharge Act section 3 (3) reads: "A surcharge shall not be imposed in respect of the import or export of gold, electricity, petroleum or fuels and oils delivered from petroleum or any export of minerals by the Minerals Marketing Company of Zimbabwe."