Brunei is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).

Reports indicate that Brunei's state-owned enterprises (SOEs), administered by Darussalam Assets under the Ministry of Finance and Economy, dominate critical sectors of the economy, including telecommunications. It is further reported that these enterprises receive preferential treatment when responding to government tenders.

The Government Procurement Guideline aims to explain the procedure and implementation process of government procurement and tenders as stipulated in Part 4 of the Financial Regulations. Government procurement must comply with the Financial Regulations and any guidelines issued by the Ministry of Finance and Economy. Guideline 7.1.13 provides that the Head of Department and the Small Tender Board can make the percentage of local employees a criterion in the bid evaluation scoring matrix. The percentage benchmark is as in Appendix 5.

It is reported that tender awards exceeding BND 500,000 (approx. USD 375,000) require the Sultan's approval as Minister of Finance and Economy (MOFE), based on recommendations from the State Tender Board. Most tender invitations or quotations are published in a bi-weekly government newspaper; however, these invitations are often selectively tendered exclusively to locally registered companies. While foreign firms may participate in tenders independently, the MOFE advises them to form joint ventures with local companies.

The Local Business Development (LBD) policy framework provides a guideline to enable government agencies to apply best practices to “local content” in contracts and procurement to ensure fair and reasonable opportunities for local suppliers in the ICT sector. According to this framework, all ICT companies participating in government ICT projects and all the Project Owners and Project Managers of the government ministries and agencies executing their respective e-government and ICT projects are required to comply with this policy framework. It is further anticipated that this policy framework shall be adopted by the Government Linked Companies (GLCs) in the near future.

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.

It is reported that Botswana imposes identity requirement for SIM registration. Anyone wanting to purchase a SIM card has to provide their national ID card, or a passport in case of foreigners, to activate a new prepaid SIM card. According to Art. 6 of the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority Act, the Board of the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority is responsible for regulating SIM card registration.

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.

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.