The Myanmar Automatic Cargo Clearance System (MACCS) will be implemented at the Myawaddy Border Gate next year to speed up the flow of trade at the country’s second largest overland trade point, according to an announcement by the Customs Department.
The scheme to upgrade the checking system at the gate from manual to digital was expected to be introduced at the end of 2017 but was pushed back to June 2018 by the government.
“Merchants and traders still do not understand this system (MACCS) so we are going to educate them for an extra three months,” said Myint Soe, Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce
The Myawaddy gate, which connects Kayin State’s Myawaddy township to the town of Mae Sot, in Thailand’s Tak Province, is the second largest overland trade point in the country behind the Muse border gate connecting Myanmar and China.
Last fiscal year $928 million worth of trade passed through the gate while in April this fiscal year, border trade hit $42.42 million, $5 million more than the same period last year, according to statistics of the ministry.
Myanmar’s main exports through Myawaddy are agricultural, fishery and forestry products while its main imports are batteries, milk powder and personal care products like toothpaste and soap.
A proposal to introduce MACCS was born out of talks with the Japanese government in 2013. Since then, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funded the introduction of MACCS through a grant of almost 4 billion Yen, about $36 million.
The system is being implemented as part of the ASEAN Single Window System which aims to speed up the flow of trade and simplify the flow of cross-border information as ASEAN seeks to become a competitive single market.
MACCS went live across the Yangon region in November last year, initially causing longer customs clearance times as officials and staff adapted to the new system.
Source: Myanmar Business Today