A temporary ban on soap, soap powder and toothpaste has been imposed starting June 4 by the OSS Customs of the Myawady Trading Zone at Myawaddy, at the Myanmar-Thai Border.

According to the commerce ministry's directive, the ban was aimed at using less foreign currency and give some protection to local products from the competitive market.

Myanmar has also imposed a ban on the products from other countries, including Thailand through the border areas such as soft drinks, coffee and tea mixes, sweetened condensed milk and so on. They will only be allowed through maritime trade.

Border traders had reported that due to such bans, they had suffered losses as well as raising prices on such banned consumer goods and harming the market.