Under Resolution No. 829, the Brazilian authorities imposed a definitive anti‑dumping duty on imports of certain optical fibres (HS subheading 9001.10.11) originating from China. The duty applicable to imports from China has been set at USD 47.46 per kilogram. This definitive measure will remain in force for a period of five years.

Art. 26.7 of the 2021 Procurement Law stipulates that the procurement of information technology and communications systems considered strategic by the Federal Government may be limited to technologies that are developed and manufactured within Brazil.

Art. 5 of Decree 7.174 of 12 May 2010 requires federal agencies and parastatal entities to give preferential treatment to domestically produced computer products and goods or services with technology developed in Brazil based on a price/technology matrix.

Complementary Law 123 of 2006, amended by Complementary Law 147 of 2014, provides that the procurement of items up to 80.000 BRL (approx 15.000 USD) is exclusive to Brazilian micro and small enterprises (Art. 47 and 48). Besides, micro and small enterprises of Brazilian origin have certain preferences, such as the right to an extra bid if it offers a price 10% higher and a 25% set aside of the number of items in larger contracts of goods if they are divisible.
Art. 49 states that these provisions do not apply if (i) there is not a minimum of three competitive suppliers classified as micro-companies or small companies based locally or regionally and capable of fulfilling the requirements established in the invitation to bid; (ii) the differentiated and simplified treatment for micro and small companies is not advantageous for the public administration or represents damage to the set or complex of the object to be contracted.

According to Section 29 of the Electronic Payments Services Regulations, licensees for electronic payment systems must adhere to transaction limits set in Schedule 3 of the regulations. Operating limits for account-based payment systems (e-money account, execution of card payment, credit transfers and direct debits) have a monthly aggregate transaction limit within the range of BWP 20,000 (approx. USD 1,750) to BWP 30,000 (approx. USD 2,600) for individual customers and BWP 50,000 (approx. USD 4,350) for SMEs, while for retail agents the monthly aggregate transaction limit is BWP 1,000,000 (approx. USD 87,000).

Botswana does not implement any de minimis threshold, which is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties.

The Consumer Protection Act and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act provide a comprehensive consumer protection framework that applies to online transactions.

Botswana has not signed the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

Botswana has adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

Botswana has adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

According to Art. 5 of the Type Approval Guidelines, type approval applies to anyone who imports, manufactures, uses, or supplies telecommunication or broadcasting equipment for use or sale in Botswana. The person who wants to use or sell this product must register the equipment with Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA), prior to importing, unless the equipment concerned has already been registered in BROCA’s Type Approval Database. According to Art. 6, for registration, the application must be accompanied by a declaration of conformity (DoC) and a full set of test reports confirming compliance with declared conformity. In addition, according to Section 6.5, it is not necessary to submit any other documentation or a sample of the equipment unless requested to do so by BOCRA. As specified in Art. 10, test results must be obtained from a labouratory that has been accredited by a body that is a member of the International labouratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Mutual Recognition Arrangement. Test results should be included with the application unless BOCRA specifically states in writing that test results are not required. The equipment must be tested for compliance with BROCA’s technical specifications (or equivalent) and should cover areas of safety, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), and technical standards. Reference to such compliance must be included in the declaration of conformity submitted with the application.

With the exception of goods originating in Malawi, import permits – issued by the Department of International Trade in the Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry – are required for goods entering Botswana directly from outside the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU). Any public or private body whose product satisfies all the requirements of a Botswana product standard can apply to the Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS) for the product to be certified. Samples of the product are then tested to verify its conformance to the requirements of the product standard, and if the results are acceptable, the product can then obtain the BOBS certification mark.
Regulations 3 and 6 of the Standards (Import Inspection) Regulations of 2008 provide that a compliance certificate should be obtained for all commodities or goods to be imported into Botswana. The imported commodities should either comply with the Bureau standards or international or foreign standards recognised by the Bureau for the compliance certificate to be issued.

State-owned enterprises operating in the telecommunications sector in Botswana are Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Ltd (BTCL), a provider of telecommunications and Internet services (ISP), and Botswana Fibre Networks (BoFiNet), a wholesale provider of telecommunications infrastructure responsible for enhancing broadband penetration. The Government of Botswana reportedly owns 51% of the shares of BTCL and 100% of the shares of BoFiNet.

It is reported that Botswana does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there has been an obligation to separate the accounts since 2012.

Botswana has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.