The increase in Myanmar’s imports has presented the need to deploy mobile teams to inspect cargo arriving through the country’s air and waterways for illegal goods.
Union Minister U Win Myint said authorities will organise mobile teams to inspect cargo being carried into Myanmar via the country’s air and water ways, to verify whether it’s legal or not.
Usually, the Mobile Team examines goods being couriered across Myanmar’s borders in vehicles using the country’s motorways.
Union Minister U Win Myint has confirmed a six-month test period has been arranged to survey foreign goods, being imported across Myanmar’s national boarders, through alternative transportation routes.
Commerce and Trade Director U Ye Tin Win said over 80 percent of Myanmar’s overseas trade comes via flight or shipping carrier services.
“Both overseas and local cargo will have to be measured simultaneously for the plan to succeed,” U Ye Tin Win said.
According to international rules, the transportation checking process starts when cargo containers are loaded from ships to ports in Myanmar – ships carrying foreign flags are not included.
Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) Joint Secretary U Aye Lwin said the changes to Myanmar’s cargo management are needed to develop the countries industrial sector.
“If we have safeguarded laws for our businessmen, there is no way to hide and protect illegal goods,” Joint Secretary U Aye Lwin said.
Finance Union Minster Dr Lin Aung said having more border gates would help Myanmar better deal with illegal imports coming into the country.
The Yangon region operates seven international cargo ports checking the arrival of goods being transported into Myanmar – tax income has increased by 20 percent from these border gates.
Commerce and Trade Director U Ye Tin Win said adding water and air transportation routes to the country’s import checklists will increase state income, giving the country more financial revenue to spend in other sectors.
“To check illegal trade through water route within 2014-15 FY, it is arranged to purchase mobile X-ray machines hoping to get more believable results,” U Ye Tin Win said.
State trade reached $24.97 billion in the 2013-14 fiscal year, increasing from $18.4 billion in the previous financial period.
Illegal border trade has also dropped by over 20 percent in Myanmar over the past year, according to official data.
