Consumer goods ban reversal earns praise

The National Working Group on Trade and Policy says the lifting of the import ban on various consumer goods is a step in the right direction as the initial order conflicted with regional commitments and overlooked domestic supply, quality gaps and consumer price pressures. In a written response on Saturday reacting to the lifting of the ban by the Ministry of Industrialisation, Business, Trade and Tourism issued on March 14 2025, the group’s chairperson Frederick Changaya said the policy wrongly assumed local production could instantly replace imports, ignoring capacity, affordability and distortions that often drive up prices for consumers. He said addressing foreign exchange leakages through fuel smuggling and transfer pricing alongside better macro-economic modelling, can stabilise the economy and help moderate prices.

Changaya, who is also National Planning Commission director general, said: “The ban was a supply-side response to a demand-driven foreign exchange problem and it risked worsening prices by constraining supply in already fragile value chains. “The order violated regional and continental commitments of the country for things we should have planned and it ignored domestic supply gaps and quality.” In a statement on Friday, Secretary for Industrialisation, Business, Trade and Tourism Wiskes Nkombezi said the revocation has been effected through the Control of Goods (Import and Export) (Commerce) (Prohibition) Revocation Order, 2026, published under Malawi Government Gazette notice number 26 dated March 13 2026. Reads the notice in part: “Following this development, stakeholders are advised that the importation of the affected goods may now resume under normal procedures inaccordance with the Control of Goods (Import and Export) Regulations, 2020, applicable customs processes and other relevant regulatory requirements.” The ministry said the ban has been revoked through a new order published under Gazette notice number 26 dated March 13 2026.

The import ban affected maize flour, fresh milk, rice and fruits, except those that do not grow in Malawi. It also extended to vegetables, except those that do not grow in Malawi, peanut butter, honey, popcorn, meat products such as sausages, bacon and cold meats, toothpicks, matches, bottled water, table eggs, plastic utensils, wooden furniture, mops, Irish potatoes, garlic, ginger, onions and security boots. In an interview on Saturday, Malawi Union of Small and Medium Enterprises president James Chiutsi said the decision gives consumers a choice between local and imported products, but stifles competition for budding local industry.

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He said there is need to have deliberate policies to grow local industries. Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry earlier said imposing an import ban was against regional trade integration aspirations and feared the move could cause a rise in inflation, limit consumer choice and affect international trade relations. But some stakeholders such as Malawi Milk Producers Association feel the move is an opportunity to grow the local industry although there is need to capacitate some economic sectors.

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