Free import
• For travelers aged 16 or older: 200 cigarettes or 250 g of other tobacco.
• For travelers aged 16 or older: 1 L of spirits and 1 L of wine or beer.
• For travelers aged 16 or older: 250 ml of eau de toilette and 50 g of perfume.
• Other goods, new or used, in accompanied baggage and not for sale, worth up to MWK 750,000 per person. These allowances do not apply if you are returning to Malawi after less than 24 hours abroad.
• Visitors who do not normally live in Malawi: personal and household items for their own use, provided they are taken out again when they leave.
• Goods above these allowances, and gifts, are subject to duty. Declare them to customs on arrival.
Currency
• There is no set limit on the amount of foreign currency you may bring in.
• Declare all cash and bearer negotiable instruments (such as traveler's cheques) to customs on arrival. Not declaring, or making a false declaration, is an offence punishable by a fine of MWK 5,000,000 plus 10% of the undeclared amount, and the money can be seized.
• Exchange money only at banks and licensed foreign exchange bureaus. Buying or selling foreign currency through anyone else is an offence.
Prohibited
• Illegal drugs, including cannabis, heroin, cocaine and mandrax
• Hazardous waste
• Thin plastics (less than 60 microns thick)
• Endangered species and products made from them, as listed under CITES
Restricted
• The following goods need an import licence or permit from the competent authority:
• Wild animals, hunting trophies and wild animal products
• Food and farm products: beef and pork, live poultry, day-old chicks and poultry meat, fish (fresh, frozen, dried or live) and fish eggs, table eggs, fresh milk, fruit and vegetables, grain of any kind and maize in any form
• Cooking oil, cane sugar, salt, bottled water, and non-alcoholic drinks in cans or bottles of more than 3 cases
• Alcoholic drinks in cans or bottles of more than 3 cases, and liquor in sachets
• Second-hand clothes over one bale, second-hand kitchen utensils and refrigerators
• Other goods such as cement, soap, matches, ballpoint pens, fertilizer and plastic products thinner than 60 microns