Tuesday 24 September 2013

Mandalay in smuggling haul

Authorities collect billions of kyat worth of smuggled goods but claim it barely makes a dent.

Mandalay Region officials have seized some K6.3 billion (US$6.3 million) worth of goods in the nine months since a dedicated anti-smuggling unit was formed, though billions of dollars of goods illegally cross the border each year, officials said.

The haul comes from policing efforts by the national-level Consumer Protection and Illegal Trade Control Committee on the Muse-Mandalay and Myawady-Yangon corridors, representing 1805 separate cases, said Mandalay regional minister for national planning and economic development U Aung Zan.

“Import figures indicate the illicit goods seized so far are just a fraction of total smuggled items entering Myanmar,” he said.

Electronic and food products are the most frequently intercepted illegal imports, though statistics also show a gap between the levels of officially imported engine oil, cigarettes, beer and alcohol and the amount actually consumed by the Myanmar market, he said.

Thailand reported exporting some $1.3 billion worth of goods to Myanmar in the 2012-13 financial year, but Myanmar reported importing $188 million from Thailand, resulting in a discrepancy of over $1 billion.

U Aung Zan said the size of illegal trade with China is likely even larger.

Stronger government steps to control illegal trade would raise tax revenue and improve the safety of goods, he said, adding reforms within the Customs department and more funding would also streamline the process.

The Consumer Protection and Illegal Trade Controlling Committee’s mobile teams were set up in November 2012 and began seizing illegal goods at the beginning of 2013. The committee’s other tasks include checking domestic and international ports and airports and keeping watch over wholesale shops, stores and shopping centres in cities for illegal goods. 

source: The Myanmar Times
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/8216-mandalay-in-smuggling-haul.html 





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