Myanmar Ministry of Commerce Notification 93/2024 — Foreign-Equity Company Mineral Export Channel

Mechanism

Myanmar's Ministry of Commerce issued Notification 93/2024 under the Export and Import Law 2012, enabling eligible foreign companies (>35% foreign equity) to locally source, manufacture, and export eight product categories that were previously restricted or procedurally ambiguous for non-state actors. The eight categories are: processed meat, fish, and aquatic products; processed crops; pulp and paper; seeds; refined ores; value-added semi-finished or finished products from fruits and horticultural materials; wood-based furniture; and environmental conservation materials.

For refined ores specifically, exporters must obtain: 1. A recommendation from the Department of Mines 2. Metal selling and purchasing permits from the relevant departments 3. A standard export licence from the Department of Trade

The legal architecture prior to this notification left foreign-equity joint ventures exposed to procedural ambiguity. The February 2021 State-Owned Economic Enterprises (SOEE) Law reserved clear export rights for state enterprises; the Notification 93/2024 fills the gap for foreign-equity JVs without formally reclassifying mining as an open-access sector. The SAC's underlying policy rationale is likely dual: formalising revenue extraction through permit fees/taxes, and establishing a veto-point over export flows from strategically important mines operated through Chinese-Burmese JVs in Wa Region and Kachin State.

Downstream implications

• SAC lever over mineral JVs: the Department of Mines permit requirement gives the

SAC a formal gate over export flows regardless of underlying JV agreements — a veto that can be revoked, priced up, or used as political leverage.

• Tin and tungsten supply chains: Myanmar supplies approximately 5% of world tin mine

output and 15–20% of world tungsten, most from Wa Region (tin) and Kayah/Kachin (tungsten, REE). Chinese capital dominates these JVs; the new permit regime routes export compliance through Naypyidaw.

• FEOC due-diligence layer: US/EU supply-chain audits of tin or tungsten sourced

through Chinese-linked companies now face an additional SAC-permit compliance record to trace — raising the evidentiary bar for FEOC-clean certification.

• Precedent for further formalisation: Notification 93/2024 creates the administrative

skeleton for downstream processing requirements, royalty levies, or export-volume caps if the SAC deepens resource nationalism posture.

Open questions

• Whether the Department of Mines has issued implementing guidance specifying what counts

as "refined ores" (concentrates vs. smelted metal vs. dore/bullion).

• How the permit requirement applies in practice to Wa Region operations under de-facto

UWSA (United Wa State Army) control vs. SAC-administered zones.

• Whether existing Chinese-backed JV contracts contain override provisions or

most-favoured-nation clauses that pre-empt the new permit requirement.