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GIST

Petroleum (Mandatory Blending of Anhydrous Ethanol with Unleaded Petrol) (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 (No. 6)

Mandatory ethanol blending now applies only to unleaded petrol imported into Zimbabwe, taking effect seven days after the 30 August 2024 gazette — fuel importers and blenders should re-read their obligations.

The Minister of Energy and Power Development has replaced section 3 of the 2013 mandatory ethanol blending regulations (S.I. 17 of 2013) outright. The new section 3 says the blending regulations "shall apply to all unleaded petrol imported into Zimbabwe".

That is the whole operative change. The scope provision is now framed around imported unleaded petrol rather than whatever the 2013 wording covered. The amendment does not reproduce the old section 3, so a reader who needs to know exactly what has been dropped or added has to compare this against S.I. 17 of 2013 directly.

On timing, the instrument says the new subsection (1) comes into operation seven days from the date of publication. It was published in the Gazette of 30 August 2024, so the seven-day clock runs from that date; the text itself does not print a calendar commencement date, so none is recorded here.

The instrument sets no blending ratio, no fee and no penalty of its own — those live in the 2013 principal regulations and in the Petroleum Act. This is the sixth amendment to the blending regulations in 2024, which is itself a signal of how often the blending position moves.

What changed

  • Section 3 of the 2013 blending regulations is repealed and replaced in full
  • The regulations are now expressed to apply to all unleaded petrol imported into Zimbabwe
  • The new scope provision comes into operation seven days after publication (gazetted 30 August 2024)

Who this affects

  • fuel importers bringing unleaded petrol into Zimbabwe
  • licensed ethanol blenders
  • petroleum wholesalers and service station operators
  • the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority

Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.