ALL export and import licences will be issued only by the Trade Council, rather than by the Export and Import Supervisory Committee (EISE) as before, said Brigadier General Tin Naing Thein, the Minister for Commerce.

Speaking at a meeting at the ministry’s headquarters in Yangon on August 5, Brigadier General Tin Naing Thein said the Trade Council would be responsible for issuing all foreign trading licences from now on.

The new system will help stimulate foreign trade, the minister said.

Previously, companies had to submit licence applications to the Ministry of Commerce, which receives approvals from the EISC, and to the Trade Council for the few cases that were considered sensitive. The Council is headed by the Deputy Senior General Maung Aye, vice chairman of the State Peace and Development Council.

The Minister for Commerce said the Trade Council would issue export or import licences after verifying the authenticity of licence applications.

“The previous process took at least two weeks, and the Trade Council will now directly issue licences within a week,” said Brigadier General Tin Naing Thein, adding that the traders, however, must submit real market prices of commodities on their invoices and use the official banking methods of state-owned banks that handle foreign currencies.

The minister said there were some rumours that the new system would slow the procedure down, but he emphasised that this is not true.

“As far as the new trade policies are concerned, the government will not issue any (official) announcement or declaration,” the minister said.

Brigadier General Maung Maung Thein, the Minister for Livestock and Fisheries, said traders can now legally use the new system, which includes the resumption of account transfers and the lifting of restrictions on import items.

U Myat Thin Aung, the president of Myanmar Industries Association, said the new system will help prevent the continued misuse of transactions in trading and would better facilitate international trading. “In the long term, these new policies will benefit trading more than the previous ones. Plus, anyone can now import essential and non-essential items without any restrictions,” he said.