Illegal trade combating: Illegal Trade Eradication Steering Committee meets

Chairman of the Illegal Trade Eradication Steering Committee Vice Chairman of the State Administration Council Deputy Prime Minister Vice Senior General Soe Win addressed the meeting (1/2023) of the Committee at the Ministry of Commerce in Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday.

At the event, the Vice Senior General said that the steering committee held the coordination meetings for 6 times from (1/2021) to (5/2022) and 197 decisions were made. A total of 4,232cases were arrested from January to December 2022 and the estimated value was 65,056 billion Kyats.

In the same period of 2021, the total seizure cases were 2,240 and the estimated value was 8.459 billion kyats.  So, 1,992 cases with the estimated value of 56.597 billion kyats were seized more in the same period. There are many reasons for illegal trade and the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade defines the illegal trade by measuring the basic facts such asGovernment Policy, Supply and Demand, Transparency and Trade and Customs Environment. In the past, inspections and seizures were made on the trade routes and inspection gates and later, the inspections and arrests were made at the warehouses and buildings where the illegal goods can be stored.

As cases were identified and actions were taken against in line with the law, seizures have seen an increase in the non-trading areas. In the prevention and investigation of illegal trade, besides illegal goods, ammunition and drugs in the forms of foods and drink have also been seized.

The Vice Senior General also stressed that the employees involved in the fight against illegal trade should be free from corruption and perform their assigned duties with full dedication to collect the taxes that are due to the country. He also requested the UMFCCI to continue cooperation on the fight against illegal trade.

And, the attendees made reports on implementation of the decisions made in the meeting 5/2022, orders submitted to the meeting 1/2023 and made sector-wise discussions. Also, the resolution (draft) of the meeting was read out for approval. This meeting came to an end with the Vice Senior General making coordination and giving remarks.