By CHARITY MOONGA –
LOOKING at hundreds of Zambians in their posh cars jamming the streets of Lusaka every day evokes a good emotional feeling.
It is clear that will rising incomes, more and more citizens no longer need to walk long distances to get to various points.
Sadly, the   propensity  most citizens have to buy things from other countries has made Zambia to be reduced to a dumping ground for various sub-standard goods and services.
From the tiniest clothing on the body – in form of underwear – to outer garments, food, medicines and even cars being driven, one may confirm the levels which Zambia has been reduced to – a dumping ground for sub-standard products originating from elsewhere.
Those who were present in the country in the past will attest to the fact that sub-standard goods and services were unheard of.
Zambians, including teachers and other professionals, were able to walk in a shop and buy a brand new car and clothes from a shop using their salaries.
Most teachers owned the Fiat which they bought straight from the showrooms.
When salaula or second hand clothes started appearing on the market, those who bought such clothes would become a laughing stock in their neighbourhood and they would be referred to as second class citizens.
But these days, it is difficult to note the levels to which Zambians have accepted counterfeit and substandard products and services.
Entering a shop nowadays, there are two prices for most products, one for a counterfeit or cheaper version a product, popularly known as “gon’ga”, and the one for an original one.
These days even a young child knows about “gon’ga” products and services and one wonders where Zambia is heading to with regards to embracing sub-standard products and services.
According to the Ministry of Transport, Zambia’s vehicle population – in a study done recently – was approximately 650,000, the majority of which are used imported vehicles.
It is increasingly sad to note that for every original product in Zambia, there are fake alternatives that are readily available on the market.
These products range from electronic appliances to household items such as television sets, cables, sockets, light bulbs, refrigerators, stoves and other household utensils.
Others are products like fruit drinks, body lotion, confectioneries, cell phones and even drugs.
The fake and sub-standard drugs are usually sold at low prices by hawkers most of whom have neither knowledge nor experience in dealing in drugs.
On international, regional and even at the local market, counterfeit products and services are regarded as silent killers.
These sub-standard goods and products have left economies of many sub-Saharan countries in Africa, including Zambia, in ruins.
At the moment, Zambia’s textile industry and other local industries have been devastated and closed down due to the effects of

cheap products from the developed world being dumped on the local market.
The Government has since engaged western countries over the issue of things like secondhand clothes, used cars, old furniture, tools and weapons.
According to the Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS), statistics show that by the end of 2014, the organisation had confiscated and destroyed assorted sub-standard and even counterfeit products to the value of K383,000 in Lusaka alone.
The bureau destroyed the confiscated products in line with part 5, Section 16 of the Standards Act, which mandates ZABS, through the Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, to prohibit or impose conditions on the supply of a commodity of any specified kind or description, if the minister considers that the commodity is so defective that in the interest of public safety, supply of the commodity should be prohibited or restricted immediately.
ZABS Head of Marketing and Public Relations Hazel Zulu explained that the sub-standard products are often smuggled into the country and do not go through the normal border clearance procedures.
“Economically, large sums of money are lost because importers do not stick to their obligations in terms of paying taxes. Sub-standard products create market distortions and consumers do not get value for money as the products have a shorter lifespan,” she said.
She said manufacturers cannot cope with the generally cheaper cost of sub-standard products and, therefore, such products kill fair competition.
Ms Zulu said the most common counterfeiting problem is the production of imitations of original products or remaking of the originals.
The counterfeiter scraps off the mark from the package and puts on a new mark.
Counterfeit products damage the reputation of genuine industries and reduce their market share, bringing down their profitability.
“Governments themselves fall victim to the counterfeit trade through buying building materials like cement, drugs, and other materials,” Ms Zulu said.
Sub-standard goods supplied through foreign and local traders and manufacturers are illegally duplicating well-known brand names and designs on their packages.
Ms Zulu explained that some of the sub-standard products are labeled in a foreign language instead of the official English language that is used in Zambia.
As explained above, counterfeit products pose a serious threat to public health and safety because the counterfeited drugs may be poisonous.
Consuming such drugs could lead to loss of lives of people and animals.
In the drugs category, countless lives have been lost while adverse effects have led to deformities especially in children.
Thousands of households also remain at risk because of the use of sub-standard cables and electric appliances imported into the country or even illegally manufactured in some factories.
Zambia ranks among the highest market for fake and sub-standard products and equipment as evidence shows.
The country also continues to lose many lives in accidents on the roads because of imported sub-standard and sometimes used tires which burst when exposed to high vehicle speeds and different weather conditions leading to motor vehicles crashing and causing injuries or death on highways.
The mobile phone market has been hard hit in Zambia with thousands of phones being sub-standard and fake.
As republican President Edgar Lungu rightly pointed out recently, Zambia should not be turned into a dumping ground for substandard products and services.
Mr Lungu challenged those charged with the responsibility of procuring services and contracts to get value for money to avoid turning Zambia into a dumping ground for substandard products.
“You cannot turn Zambia into a dumping ground; give us value contracts and by value contracts I mean give us contracts which are sustainable and will provide services to the people of Zambia,” Mr Lungu said.
One Lusaka business man who spoke on condition of anonymity urged ZABS to work with the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to address the problem of sub-standard products and services.
“I have bought counterfeit clothes and shoes thinking they are original only to wear them for a few days and they begin to wear out.
“Stocks of motor car head lamps, halogen bulbs allegedly made in China are also being dumped on the Zambian market. These bulbs have an extremely short service life and they usually burn out by popping and blowing out as soon as they are lit. This endangers lives of both motor vehicle owners and other road users,” he said.
ZABS has been engaging in routine checkups in trading areas.
Not too long ago, the organisation seized over 11,000 x 1 liter containers of Lyons peanut butter from various shops in Lusaka valued at approximately K357,000.
Ms Zulu said the peanut butter was confiscated because laboratory test results received indicated that it had high aflatoxins and was not fit for human consumption.
On second hand cars, Government is enacting legislation to regulate the importation of second-hand vehicles to protect Zambia from being a dumping ground.
The secondhand vehicles account for more than 60 per cent of the car population which is now increasing at a rate of around 45,000 new vehicle registrations per year.
But their road worthiness of these cars remains a source of great concern.
The Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Communications said the legislation, which was almost compete, would look at limiting the manufacturing date of a vehicle before being imported.
ZABS has also increased the number of inspections on all imports, beginning with the second quarter of 2016, by 51.5 per cent.
One wonders how much longer, Government, ZABS and other stakeholders need to work before setting the country free from being a dumping ground for sub-standard goods and services.
It is understood that society is morally bankrupt and poverty has taken its toll on the people. However, that is no excuse to compromise and accept sub-standard products and services which have many a time negatively affected the economy and led to the loss of life.