Arusha, Tanzania – 2 May 2025: – The East African Business Council (EABC) congratulates the Governments of the United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Malawi for their swift commitment to hold a bilateral ministerial dialogue aimed at strengthening agricultural trade ties and eliminating barriers to trade under the East African Community (EAC), Southern African Development Community (SADC), and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) frameworks.
The EABC further commends Tanzania’s decision to lift the temporary prohibition on the trade and transit of agricultural products to and from Malawi and South Africa, as announced by the Minister of Agriculture on 25th April 2025. This commendable move reaffirms Tanzania’s pivotal role as a champion of regional trade integration, facilitation, and cooperation across the EAC, SADC, and COMESA regions.
On 13th March 2025, the Government of Malawi issued an Order under Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Control of Goods (Import and Export) (Commerce) Act. The Order, effective until 12th March 2027, prohibits the importation of several food and non-food items, including maize, fruits, meat products, honey, rice, fresh milk, vegetables, peanut butter, eggs, bottled water, , popcorn, toothpicks, furniture, and plastic utensils. Section 14 of the Act outlines penalties for non-compliance.
While the EABC acknowledges the objective of supporting local industry and managing trade imbalances, it is concerned that the Order affects exporters from the SADC, COMESA, and EAC and small-scale cross-border traders operating under the Simplified Trade Regime (STR). This impacts trade conducted under existing regional and continental frameworks, including the COMESA- EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA). The prohibition is inconsistent with Malawi’s commitments to the promotion of intra-regional trade under the SADC Protocol on Trade, which both Tanzania and Malawi are members. Malawi is also a signatory of COMESA Treaty. The prohibition also contravenes the Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement of which Malawi ratified on 23rd April 2024.
“In the spirit of fostering regional cooperation and mutual prosperity, the EABC urges the Government of Malawi to exempt products originating from EAC, SADC, and COMESA Member States from the scope of the prohibition Order. We also appeal for small-scale cross-border traders operating under the Simplified Trade Regime (STR) to be allowed to continue trading in the restricted products, to protect livelihoods and promote inclusive trade.” stated, Mr. Adrian Njau, EABC Acting Executive Director.
The EABC encourages Member States across the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) to continue fostering dialogue and collaborative mechanisms that uphold the principles of free trade and regional integration. We reaffirm our commitment to working closely with both public and private sector stakeholders to address trade bottlenecks and unlock the full potential of intra-African trade.
“In the same spirit of promoting intra-African trade we urge the United Republic of Tanzania to expeditiously ratify the Agreement as Tanzania like other EAC Partner States trade more with TFTA member states than the rest of African countries’ Mr. Njau said.
The COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) Agreement, came into force on 25th July 2024 after attainment of the required threshold of 14 ratifications among the 29 Member/Partner States in the three regional economic communities.
