This summary was prepared by Whitehouse & Associates for the African Resource Network.

The Malawi-South Africa agreement dates back to 1967 and originally provided for preferential rates of duty, rebates and regulations on certain goods traded between the two countries. The agreement has subsequently been amended and all goods of Malawian origin enter South Africa duty-free. South African goods entering Malawi receive the most-favoured-nation rate of duty afforded to all World Trade Organisation members. It is the generous nature of this agreement that often leads to its abuse and there have been a couple of high profile cases reported in the press where an import consignment from Malawi has been greater than the capacity of the local industry.