Myanmar traders say that the new restrictions on Myanmar-Bangladesh border trade export by the Myanmar Military Council has caused Maungdaw border trade in Rakhine State to almost stop.

The Military Council’s Directorate of Trade called for a stop to exporting agricultural produce such as rice, broken rice, pulses and beans, sesame, groundnut, peanut, onion, etc. and freshwater and seawater fishes from Maungdaw border trade post to Bangladesh starting from 4 September. These goods must be exported from the Sittwe border trade post only.

Traders note a crucial difference. It typically takes 18 hours to export Rohu (carp) fish by sea from Sittwe to Bangladesh, so this can cause heavy damage to the fish stock, whereas it takes only 20 minutes from the Maungdaw border trade post and therefore there is very little damage to the goods, the traders say.

Moreover, starting from 1 October, each batch of export from Sittwe to Bangladesh must consist of at least 40 tonnes. Vessels had to turn back in bad weather and traders are facing many difficulties in their trade.

There are nine border trade posts in Myanmar and this Maungdaw border trade post is using US dollar as the major currency in trade settlement and it is one of the biggest trade posts.

In the first half of this fiscal year the trade value of the Myanmar-Bangladesh border trade reached US$ 9.482 million and trade statistics showed that the Maungdaw border trade post alone had a trade value of US$ 6.445 million.

Rakhine State Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RSCCI) said that currently Bangladesh reduced the import of Myanmar freshwater fish and that the border trade between two countries was in decline.

The statistics of RSCCI showed that the export of Rohu fell to about 70 tonnes in September 2023 and the export value was just US$1.4 million.

Fish traders urged the responsible officials from both countries to let them export Rohu from both Sittwe and Maungdaw border trade posts.