The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ), chaired by suspended ZANU-PF Mazowe District Coordinating Committee (DCC) chairman Tafadzwa Musarara, has withdrawn its High Court application challenging the Government’s grain import levy framework introduced under Statutory Instrument 87 of 2025.

According to a Notice of Withdrawal filed at the High Court Commercial Division in Harare on June 15, 2026, GMAZ withdrew its application and tendered wasted costs to the respondents.

The respondents in the matter included the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA), the Ministers responsible for Agriculture, Finance, Justice, and Industry and Commerce, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat), and the Attorney-General.

GMAZ had initially approached the court seeking urgent relief to stop the implementation of the grain levy framework, arguing that the measures would increase the cost of production and eventually lead to higher prices of bread, mealie meal, and other basic commodities.

The legal challenge arose amid broader debate over the legality and economic impact of SI 87 of 2025, particularly after an earlier Treasury communication dated March 3, 2026, suggested that the statutory instrument was ultra vires the Constitution and should be repealed.

However, Treasury later revised its position in a subsequent letter dated April 30, 2026, in which Finance Secretary George Guvamatanga expressed support for a revised grain marketing framework that retained levies and charges on imports under the 2025/26 summer season arrangements.

Treasury noted that the gap between import parity prices and local production costs had significant implications for the viability of domestic producers, import substitution efforts, and broader macroeconomic stability.

Under the framework, the Government designated the Agricultural Marketing Authority as the collecting agent for the levies, with the proceeds being paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund and earmarked, subject to parliamentary appropriation, for payments to farmers through the Grain Marketing Board and the development of smallholder irrigation schemes.

Authorities say the levy framework has already generated approximately US$5.7 million, with part of the revenue being channelled towards irrigation infrastructure and programmes aimed at reducing Zimbabwe’s long-term dependence on grain imports.

The levy system has received backing from farmer unions, indigenous millers, and Government officials who argue that it is necessary to protect local producers, strengthen food security, and reduce the country’s growing import bill.

The Indigenous Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (IGMAZ) has previously defended the policy, arguing that excessive reliance on imported grain threatens the gains of the Land Reform Programme and undermines Zimbabwe’s industrialisation agenda.

Legal experts who support the Government’s position argue that the Agricultural Marketing Authority Act gives authorities the power to impose and collect levies for agricultural development and the administration of sector funds.

The debate over the grain levy forms part of a wider national conversation on Zimbabwe’s import substitution strategy, with senior Government officials advocating stronger support for local production and value addition.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has argued that Zimbabwe should position itself within global value chains as a producer of value-added goods rather than remain dependent on imports. Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda has also warned that the country’s rising import bill poses risks to industrial growth and economic sovereignty.