APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe and Zambia will next week become the latest countries to launch simplified rules governing trade among member states of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), the regional economic bloc said on Monday.

Government officials from the two southern African countries are set to meet in the Zambian resort town of Livingstone on July 29 to launch the COMESA Simplified Trade Regime, an ambitious regional programme that aims to facilitate trade and reduce poverty through enhanced cross-border transactions.

A similar arrangement was launched by Malawi and Zambia in April at Mwami border post.

The COMESA Simplified Trade Regime recognises that cross-border trading is an important source of employment and an income generating activity that sustains families.

Under the arrangement, the countries would aim to simplify trade by small-scale operators through the issuing of simplified certificates of origin customs documents that serve to capture data for government policy review, formulation and management.

The new arrangement would target transactions valued at US$500 or less and would go a long way in formalising trade by small-scale traders and reduce cases of smuggling.

Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe were the first three COMESA countries to agree on the list of common products which can be traded under the Simplified Trade Regime.