Organized by the WTO Secretariat and Myanmar's Ministry of Commerce, the three-day workshop attracted over 60 officials representing 28 government agencies. Prior to June 2012, all imports into Myanmar required a non-automatic import licence. Since then, the Government eased import licensing requirements for 166 commodities (corresponding to more than 1,900 tariff lines) by allowing their importation with an automatic licence. The government is planning to further liberalize the trade regime and facilitate trade flows through simplifying and streamlining the licensing procedures. The national workshop helped to deepen the participants' understanding of the Agreement, and explained how to prepare WTO notifications under relevant provisions of the Agreement through hands-on exercises.
With joint efforts by the authority and the Secretariat, it is expected that Myanmar will submit its first-ever notifications to the Committee on Import Licensing in the coming weeks.