Malawi Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in malawi, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Standards for Trade
Last published date:

Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade 

Overview

The Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS), a member of the International Bureau of Standards, promotes conformity with internationally accepted standards. The MBS formulates national standards (Malawi Standards) in all fields of interest. The standards act as a base or guideline for measuring the quality, performance, or fitness for intended use of a product or service. The formulation of standards is done through Technical Committees (TCs) that are made up of representatives from the industry, government ministries and departments, professional organizations and bodies, among others. The MBS operates a Library Membership Scheme (MBS Documentation and Information Services Scheme – MBS- DIS Scheme), which enables one to access standards and standards related information available in the MBS library for companies, organizations, educational institutions, parastatal bodies, governments departments, and individuals.

Goods imported into Malawi are checked to ensure that they meet standards set for such products. Hotel and catering services are also subject to reviews by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Wildlife (Department of Tourism).

Standards and Technical Regulations

The MBS promotes adherence to international standards and develops national standards. While Malawi has its own standards, it also recognizes and often aligns with international standards, including those developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Trade Organization (WTO), and National Standards from a number of countries worldwide. While Malawi may not explicitly adopt all U.S. standards, it does recognize and often aligns with international standards that are like those used in the United States. 

Testing, Inspection and Certification

MBS provides testing services through its Testing Services Department that operates several laboratories. The laboratories provide testing services to most organizations that do not have their own test facilities, to clients requiring an independent analysis or opinion, and to internal programs for verification of compliance to standards. The laboratory facilities are in the following areas:

•    General Chemistry
•    Food Chemistry
•    Petrochemicals
•    Pesticides Residues and Formulation
•    Microbiology
•    Radiochemistry
•    Engineering and Materials

MBS provides inspection and certification services to ensure that both local and imported goods and/or services comply with quality requirements, with the aim of protecting consumers from unfair trade practices in quality, quantity, presentation, and labelling based on international certification practices. These services are offered through the following schemes:
•    Permit Scheme
•    Designation Scheme
•    Imports Quality Monitoring Scheme
•    Exports Quality Certification Scheme

Publication of Technical Regulations

Technical regulations are not centralized and are, therefore, managed by relevant government departments. These are published in the Malawi Government Gazette and form part of relevant acts. MBS serves as the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) National Enquiry Point (NEP). Any enquiry on what standards, technical regulations, or conformity assessment procedures are needed in a country where they want to send their products, the MBS, as a NEP, is available to obtain the relevant information in Malawi. MBS ensures manufacturers, importers, and exporters in Malawi get the latest information on standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures available in their target markets.

Contact Information

The Director General
Malawi Bureau of Standards
Moirs Road
P.O Box 946
Blantyre
Malawi
Tel: (265)1 870 488
Fax: (265) 1 870 756
E-mail: mbs@mbsmw.org
Website: https://mbsmw.org/

U.S. Standards Attaché - South Africa
Location:  Johannesburg, South Africa
Attaché:  Tatyana Aguirre
Contact:  Tatyana.Aguirre@trade.gov
 

Use ePing to Review Proposed Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures

The ePing SPS&TBT platform (https://epingalert.org/), or “ePing”, provides access to notifications made by World Trade Organization (WTO) Members under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995, to present. ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and is a versatile tool that can be used to: 

  • Follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest.
  • Receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are distributed.
  • Find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees. 
     

Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates an Enquiry Point. National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat. All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point. Refer to the comment guidance at https://www.nist.gov/notifyus/commenting for further information. This guidance is provided to assist U.S. stakeholders in the preparation and submission of comments in response to notifications of proposed foreign technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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