GOVERNMENT officials met with traders from the private sector
on November 11 to discuss ways to prepare for amendments that
will be made in 2007 to tariff rates and classifications for goods
traded among Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) members.
Officials from the Customs Department, National ASEAN Free Trade
Area Unit, and Ministry of Commerce met with traders familiar
with regional ASEAN markets at the office of the Union of Myanmar
Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) in Yangon.
U Aung Lwin, the vice president of the UMFCCI, said the purpose
of the meeting was to inform traders about the impending rate
and classification changes, and to ask for their advice on how
to prepare for the changes without undermining the interests of
the national economy and of individual traders.
“(The rate and classification changes) will be very important
for implementation of ASEAN Free Trade Area,” he said.
Each ASEAN member country is expected to submit its recommendations
for changes to the Jakarta-based ASEAN Harmonised Tariff Nomenclature
(AHTN) Review Committee, which will make the final decisions before
implementation in 2007.
U Ko Ko Oo, the director of the Customs Department, said the
current tariff rates and classifications were established in 2002.
Since then, about 5000 additional classifications of commodities
have been identified among ASEAN members.
“In 2007 the number of classified commodities will increase
from 5000 to 10,000,” said U Aye Myint, the assistant director
of the department.
The changes will enhance the transparency of the classification
process, and will ensure that classifications of goods are applied
uniformly among ASEAN nations. They will also simplify trade in
the region by streamlining the tariff nomenclature system.
The AHTN rates and classifications are based on the harmonised
system (HS) adopted by the World Customs Organisation.
Myanmar became the 189th member of the World Customs Organisation
in 1990 and has abided by the harmonised system since 1992.
