English
FrançaisComplaint
- Complaint number
- NTB-001-189
- NTB Type
- 1.8. Import bans
- Complaint
-
Malawi Ministry of Trade & Industry has introduced a new regulation for imports of sweets. Our customer applied for Import Permit 3 times and each time it was rejected. Our customer has tried every possible way however he has not managed. Malawi authorities are not giving the reason in writing. They have informed our customer verbaaly that because of the shortage of forex in Malawi, their superiors have informed them that they are not to issue the Import Permit for sweets. Also, there is a local manufacturer already making sweets so there is no reason to import.
This action has raised great concerns, as it contravenes the trade agreements under the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), to which both Kenya and Malawi are signatories.
We kindly request this issue be addressed promptly. - Status note
-
The Ministry of Trade and Industry granted an import licence to Manosalwa Food Industry on 10th March, 2025, for 31500 Cartons of Assorted sweets (Happy Mint, Fruit Drops, Cool Cow and Lollipops).
The licence was granted according to the quantity that was applied for. - Progress update note
-
1. On 17 September 2024, Kenya reported that Malawi has introduced a measure that requires Kenya importers to Malawi should apply for a permit. Kenya was ready to comply with the new measure however her application has been rejected three times without any explanation.
2. On 25 September 2024, Malawi uploaded the measure which contains a list of products are are affected by the measure. and advised that since the regulation came into effect, the Ministry of Trade had issued several import licenses of Sweets to importers who applied and met all the necessary requirements. In this case, Malawi requested that Kenya importers apply for the licenses and follow all the necessary requirements. Malawi Focal Point clarified that the new regulation is not only for Sweets, but other products as well that are subject to import and export licensing.
3. On 20 October 2024, Kenya responded that their records showed that Malawi had not issued licences for applications applied since August 2024 when the new notice was issued. Kenya exporters and their clients in Malawi had applied and followed all necessary requirements and the applications were shared in August 2024 however, Malawi had not issued a licence as at October 2024. Kenya therefore requested Malawi to facilitate the issuance of the license to facilitate trade as the specific Kenya manufactured sweets for Malawi orders are stranded for the much-awaited licence.
4. On 20 December 2024, Malawi updated that the Kenyan company has been granted the permit on 19 December 2024 and requested that the NTB be considered resolved, however on 6 January 2025, Kenya informed the Focal Points that only one company received its permit and they are still waiting for the permit for Kenya Sweets Ltd.
5. On 6 January 2025, the company reported that Malawi issued Import Permit for just one company Patco Industries.They had not issued a permit for Kenya Sweets Ltd. They requested Malawi Focal Point to follow up with relevant Minisry to give permit Manosalwa who submitted their application in September 2024. The application is attached for ease of reference.
6.On 21 January 2025 Kenya reported that the issued permit was for the goods not listed in the application form , as indicated in the permit received by their client document. In this regard , on 22 January 2025, the NTB Unit in the Secretariat requested Malawi Focal Point to facilitate the correction of the permit to accurately reflect the good listed in the application form.
7.On 27 January 2025, Kenya Focal point submitted a report as follows:
Since the Malawi issuance of the regulations in August 2024, importer/clients for the Kenya manufactures in Malawi applied & paid for the import license for various brands of sweets from Kenya Sweets Limited and Patco Industries among other sweets manufacturers in Kenya. The Malawi Authorities have since issued one license dated 19th December 2024 with a specific brand name of Ukwaju sweets that are manufactured by Patco Industries. We wish to appreciate the Ministry for the issuance of the license for Ukwaju from Patco Industries. This will really facilitate the export of the Ukwaju sweets into Malawi. However, the application for import license for the Kenya Sweets Industries applied on 29/2/2024 for the brands:- Happy Mint, Fruit Drops, Cool Cow and Lollipop has not been issued todate. Additionally, no communication has been given for the reason of delaying issuance of the permit or the cause of the delays and Kenya sweets Limited are incurring costly storage delays for the sweets manufactured specifically for the Malawi Market since the issuance of the regulations 2024 on 28/8/2024. This is therefore, is to appreciate the Republic of Malawi for the issuance of the permit for Patco Industries-Ukwaju brand and additionally request prompt issuance of license to Kenya Sweets Limited products- brands:- Happy Mint, Fruit Drops, Cool Cow and Lollipop to enable Kenya Sweets and any other Kenya exporters to resume export of sweets to clients in Malawi as well as avoid the costly storage charges. We look forward to your kind consideration to avoid any discrimination, denial of market access including lack of transparency for the already applied import license as required by the amended regulation 2024. Attached, is the application for Kenya Sweets Limited
8.The two countries held a virtual bilateral meeting held on 4th February 2025 in which it was agreed that Malawi would engage relevant authorities to find ways to request for issuance of a temporary approval for the consignment for Kenya sweets for the brands Happy Mint, Fruit Drops, Cool Cow and Lollipop. This was on the understanding that the company had produced the batch of sweets specifically for the Malawi order prior to introduction of import permits.
As per request by Malawi Kenya uploaded the necessary documents in the system on 4th February 2025 from which Malawi Focal Point would submit for internal authorisation and approval. Meanwhile Malawi is requested to expedite consultation and provide feedback on progress from the internal consultations to resolve the matter considering that the exporter is incurring huge storage costs.
9. On 10th March, the Secretariat received a letter from Malawi dated 7th March that the country is experiencing macroeconomic challenges particularly those affecting foreign exchange availability, finding it necessary to exercise caution in approving permits for the quantities as requested by Kenya. However, Malawi promised that this is a temporary measure and once the situation stabilizes, the country will continue to issue permits with the view to facilitate trade within the COMESA region. - Policy or regulatory NTB
- No
- Location
- Malawi: Ministry of Trade & Industry (Government institution)
- Reporting Country or Region
- Kenya
- Country specific trade issue
- No
- Date of incident
- 2024-09-17
- Status
- Resolved
- Date of resolution
- 2025-03-10
- Product Description
-
CONFECTIONERY SWEETS
- Total value
- 547.00
- Date reported
- 2024-09-25 08:10
- Modified
- 2025-03-13 10:57
Messages
No messages
