President Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Myanmar, also known as Burma, where he praised the country’s progress in moving toward democracy and called for further reforms. Ahead of President Obama’s visit, the Treasury and State Departments announced that they were waiving the ban on imports from Burma, although the importation of certain jades and rubies is still prohibited.
The Department of State, pursuant to a delegation of authority from the President, waived the ban on the importation of products of Burma set forth in section 3(a) of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 (BFDA).
Consistent with this waiver, Treasury Department issued General License No. 18 (GL 18)authorizing the importation into the United States of any article that is a product of Burma, subject to certain limitations. GL 18 does not authorize the importation into the United States of jadeite or rubies mined or extracted from Burma, or of articles of jewelry containing jadeite or rubies mined or extracted from Burma or any other activity prohibited by Section 3A of the BFDA, an amendment added by the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta’s Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2008.
GL 18 also does not authorize transactions with any person blocked under the Burma sanctions program. The Treasury Department added to the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons by designating seven entities and updating an additional alias to an already-sanctioned entity. The updated list includes front companies owned or controlled by Steven Law and Tay Za.
If you have any questions, please contact your MIQ Logistics representative.