A directive circulating on social media listing 35 items temporarily prohibited from import was originally issued in 2022, but its current validity remains uncertain.

According to business sources, the original directive was issued by the now-defunct Foreign Exchange Supervision Committee (FEFC) and would need to be reissued to take effect again. “The FEFC was abolished and has only just been re-established. Since the earlier directive was not issued under the current leadership, it is likely no longer applicable,” a businessman said.

The Office of the National Defense and Security Council, under Notification No. 2/2025, abolished several commissions and bodies on August 1, including the FEFC. However, the committee was reinstated on August 6 under Order No. 20/2025 to oversee foreign exchange stability and effective currency use for Myanmar’s economic development. The reconstituted FEFC is chaired by Prime Minister and Union Minister U Nyo Saw, with senior ministers and officials serving as members.

The previous FEFC listed 35 items under temporary import restrictions. Some goods, such as elevators, generators, sodium cyanide, medicines, mobile phones, and certain foods, were allowed only via sea routes, not border trade. Others — including flip-flops, coconut milk, car tires, sweets, soy sauce, tea, bulldozers, fruits, toiletries, soap, electric bicycles, melamine products, and specific brands of asphalt — were prohibited via both sea and border imports.