Approval requirements for electronic equipment in Malawi

Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is located in Southeastern Africa with borders to Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique. The country has presently a population of about 21 mill with Lilongwe as the capital and the largest city. 
The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority  (MACRA) has announced the introduction of new type approval regulations for electronic communication equipment, including guidelines for the approval and for stricter labeling requirements.

The draft regulation has been out for public hearing with 1 December this year shown as the intended date for implementation. Concerning the labeling, the regulation specifies that approved products must display a certification label with MACRA's mark (as shown below), together with the device model and an approval ID.
The label shall guarantee that the product complies with MACRA’s technical standards and safety requirements.
The format of the approval ID is to be displayed as indicated in the shown sample, where “MLW/MACRA/TA/YYYY/XXXX”, means “Malawi/MACRA/Type Approval/Year/Certificate Number”.

In order to legally market the products, the responsible distributor/supplier must also get a Dealership Registration Certificate from MACRA. This shall ensure that only authorized dealers participate in the market.

The regulation further states that the approved equipment must:
- Operate within the assigned frequency bands according to Radio Regulations
- Avoid causing harmful interference to other radio services in its area
- Stay within safe radiation exposure limits
- Not exceed the maximum allowed power output (ERP) as verified in testing
- Be used only for the approved purpose

MACRA will conduct market surveillance of approved equipment to ensure ongoing compliance with the requirements as considered crucial for maintaining the safety and integrity of the communication network.
The official notification by MACRA may be seen at this link.

Further information is available here.
For assistance with approval requirements for Malavi and other African countries please contact Geremy.Bradshaw@nemko.com

(The article is based on blog by Geremy Bradshaw and edited by T.Sollie)