US Eases Myanmar Import Ban Ahead of Obama Visit

By Samuel Rubenfeld

The U.S. said Friday it implemented an announced easing on imports from Myanmar as the long-isolated country continues its rapid thaw in iced relations with Washington.

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Kyu Kyu Mar, owner of Super silk screening shop, holds a T-shirt printed with an image of U.S. President Barack Obama as the city prepares for his forthcoming visit.

President Barack Obama is traveling in the region and will be in Myanmar on Monday, making him the first sitting president to ever visit the country. His visit, only a year removed from the country's near-total isolation, marks the progress of reform in the country, which has released hundreds of political prisoners, freed the press and passed a law allowing for labor unions, among other changes.

The easing is "intended to support the Burmese government's ongoing reform efforts and to encourage further change, as well as to offer new opportunities for Burmese and American businesses," said a joint statement issued by the State and Treasury Departments.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton originally announced an easing of the import ban in September. She and other U.S. officials have visited Myanmar in recent months as the country begins engaging with Washington.

In the joint statement on Friday, the State and Treasury departments laid out the details of how the ban on items imported from Myanmar, also known as Burma, would work.

The State Department waived the ban on imported products from Myanmar set forth in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, while the Treasury Department issued a general license authorizing anything to be imported to the U.S. from Myanmar, save for jadeite or rubies mined or extracted from there.

However, the statement also said the U.S. is monitoring and supporting Burma's progress on reform, and the authority underlying  the sanctions remain in place.

"Despite positive changes, the United States remains concerned about corruption, remaining political prisoners, continued military ties to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and ethnic conflict," the statement said.

The Treasury's general license doesn't authorize transactions with anyone blocked under the U.S. sanctions program on Myanmar. And Treasury added seven entities it said were front companies for Steven Law and Tay Za, two of the previous regime's cronies already under U.S. sanctions.

"The United States is committed to supporting positive political and economic reforms in Burma, and we urge the Burmese Government to continue this progress by implementing measures that increase socio-economic development, promote government transparency and accountability, protect human rights, and advance ethnic reconciliation across the country," the statement said.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2012/11/17/us-eases-myanmar-import-ban-ahead-of-obama-visit/