Government has revised and amended penalties for illegal exportation of goods out of Malawi to K25 million or 10 years imprisonment.

The revision was made on Friday, during a stakeholders’ consultative meeting on development of exports mandates for agricultural products.

It was revealed during the meeting that the country is losing a lot of revenue from duty due to the increased smuggling of goods.

Reacting to the matter, National Association for Small and Medium Enterprise (NASME) National Coordinator William Mwale said the revision is a welcome development.

Mwale said the move will empower Malawians to follow right procedures of exports hence boosting the economy.

“It will help to empower Malawians to see to it that they enter into formal exports of these products and contribute to the country’s economy,” he said.

Mwale added: “It has been discovered that once the produce have been exported don’t come back to the country, hence government and the citizenry are robbed off huge amounts of money.”

The agricultural products that being targeted include: beans, pigeon peas, soya beans, cow beans, rice, rice bran and groundnuts.