Plans are underway to expand the Myanmar Automatic Cargo Clearance System, a computerised network aimed at speeding up trade at ports and borders, a minister has said.
The expansion will start in 2018 and cover trade posts at Myanmar’s land borders, said U Kyaw Win, the Minister of Planning Finance.
It follows the success of the system at shipping ports and the international airport in Yangon region, he added.
The government has been trialling the system at 10 locations in Yangon including ports along the Yangon River and commodity checking gates at the Yangon International airport.
The system was developed with technical and financial assistance worth $40 million from the Japanese government’s international development arm, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It automatically records information on imports and exports using specialist computer software.
Technicians are planning to add updates to enable the system to be able to recognise which customs channel, red, yellow or green, the goods are passing through. It will be able to automatically calculate the taxes and print the release orders for goods in the green channel.
There are plans to extend the system to the Muse trading gate in Shan state, at the border with China, and the Tatchileik crossing at the Thai border.
Officials say MACCS minimises illegal trade and prevents backlogs of shipping containers.
Under the NLD government more than K10.9 billion worth of contraband has been seized across the country, including K5.26 billion from regions and states outside of Yangon.
Source: Myanmar Business Today
