Sunday, 10 March 2013

Myanmar to lobby for lifting of sanctions on jade exports to the US

In order to export jade and gems directly to the United States, the government will lobby for the repeal of US legislation that bans gem traders here from exporting to the US, deputy minister for foreign affairs Zin Yaw told the Parliament on Wednesday.


The legislation, the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act, was passed by the US Congress in 2003.

“Repealing a law in the US is a step by step process that includes political, legal views as well as methodology. Our government, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is constantly asking that all the sanctions imposed on our country be lifted,” Zin Yaw said.

He also said that elected representatives and legal experts from both countries should keep in contact to make technical suggestions for lifting sanctions.

Everyone in Myanmar should work together to ensure the sanctions are lifted, he said.

US policy towards Myanmar began to shift after president Thein Sein took office in March 2011. As the new government released political prisoners, signed ceasefires with ethnic rebels, opened the economy and held elections that saw opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi take a seat in Parliament, Washington normalised diplomatic relations and suspended most major sanctions.
 
source: Eleven Myanmar

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