You are using an outdated browser and your browsing experience will not be optimal. Please update to the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Install Microsoft Edge

August 25, 2022

Myanmar Indirectly Bans Exports of Value-Added Beans, Corn, and Sesame by Foreign Companies

Subscribe to Updates

On July 27, 2022, Myanmar’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) issued Newsletter No. 8/2022 to effectively ban foreign companies and foreign joint ventures from exporting value-added beans, corn, and sesame.

This newsletter repealed Newsletter No. 2/2020, which had prescribed the criteria for beans, corn, and sesame to be considered “value-added” crops. These criteria had to be fulfilled in order for these commodities to be exported in accordance with Notification No. 24/2019, which had permitted foreign companies and foreign joint ventures to purchase seven categories of commodities from local manufacturers for export, subject to certain terms and conditions. These include:

  • Meat and fish;
  • Value-added crops;
  • Pulp and paper;
  • Seeds;
  • Refined metals;
  • Semi-finished or finished valued-added fruit products; and
  • Timber-based furniture.

With the repeal of the conditions in Newsletter No. 2/2020, foreign exporters are left with no reference criteria for how to achieve “value-added” status for beans, corn, and sesame, and thus will not be able to submit a complete application for the necessary export license. However, exportation of the other items in the list above remains unaffected and open to foreign exporters who meet the applicable requirements.

The MOC explained their decision to revoke the permitted criteria by noting that some foreign companies were not actually producing beans, corn, and sesame that fulfilled the criteria for value-added status as laid out in Newsletter No. 2/2020, but were falsely exporting their goods as “value-added crops.” The revocation of the export criteria for beans, corn, and sesame took immediate effect.

For more details on these export restrictions, or on any aspect of importation and exportation regulations in Myanmar, please contact Tilleke & Gibbins at [email protected].

Related Professionals

Industries

Life Sciences

Practices

Customs and International Trade

Location

RELATED INSIGHTS​ 

June 3, 2015
The first edition of Global Agriculture Law, a Q&A-style guide that provides detailed overviews of agriculture law worldwide, has been published. The guide covers key practical issues, including those affecting agricultural companies and cooperatives, land ownership and usage rights, tax and financing, crop seed business, plant variety right protection, GM crops, importing animals, gene patents, and product liability.The Thailand chapter, written by lawyers at Tilleke & Gibbins, delves into the following main issues:
Read More
June 3, 2015
Global Agriculture Law (1st Ed.), a guide that presents a Q&A-style overview of agriculture law in 22 jurisdictions around the world, has been published. The Vietnam chapter of the guide, written by Kien Trung Trinh, Dung Thi Kim Vu, and Linh Duy Mai of Tilleke & Gibbins, covers key practical issues including those related to agricultural policy, acquisition of agricultural companies, acquisition of agricultural land, crop seed business, plant variety rights, genetically modified crops, importing animals and gene patents, and agricultural safety and product liability.
Read More
May 28, 2015
Thailand’s roadmap of food safety, which was approved in 2004, aims to promote the Kingdom as the “kitchen of the world.” Animal feed, i.e., food given to farm animals, plays a major role in the food safety regime—it is part of the stages of food production, dubbed “farm-to-table,” and is an integral component in the overarching food chain. Animal feed must be as safe as meat for human consumption, and therefore registration, inspection, and control of animal feed are vigorously regulated by the regulatory authorities.
Read More
May 14, 2015
Vietnam’s Drug Distribution PolicyUnder its WTO commitments, Vietnam agreed to allow foreign-invested entities (FIEs) to conduct distribution services (i.e., commission agent, wholesale, and retail services) for most types of products, but it specifically excluded “pharmaceutical products and drugs.” Consequently, foreign pharmaceutical producers typically establish legal presence in Vietnam by way of representative offices through which they can conduct marketing activities, and use local drug distributors to conduct sales and delivery of their products.
Read More