"We have abandoned the system and we will not be going back to it in the near future. For now, we are working at strengthening the existing Import Quality Management Scheme," Sing'ambwa told the media in Lusaka, Zambia.

The pre-export plan drew criticism from various stakeholders including the Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) and the Zambia Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI). They argued that the system would hurt the Zambian businesses.

The system, they said, would be time-consuming and costly for Zambian businessmen who travel to China, who would have to wait until verification is done before the products are shipped. In addition, they argued that the verification must be done at the manufacturing stage to avoid Zambian businessmen losing their money, as they would if products are rejected at the ports.

However, counterfeit handsets from China are being sold cheaply, flooding the Zambian market and coming close to putting genuine handset manufacturers off the business, say some industry players.

Mohamed Seedat, chairman of M-mobile Telecommunication, a local Zambian mobile-phone assembling company, said, "the influx [of] imported cheaper mobile phones have impacted negatively on the firm's growth."