Yesterday Australia
joined the United States in partially relaxing its Burma sanctions. Unlike
the US, Australia does not have an import ban against Myanmar, as it is part of
the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA). However, it did impose sanctions on financial
transactions and travel.
The relaxation reduces the
number of individuals subject to financial and travel sanctions from 392 to
130. Those removed from sanctions were
civilian government officials.
The Australian government
also ended its policy of neither encouraging nor discouraging trade with
Myanmar. This means that the Australian
government will have a more active role in trade, such as in the AANZFTA Work
Programme. Australia will maintain its
arms embargo against the Myanmar regime.
The next big event in Burma
sanctions will be the EU’s
annual review of its own Burma sanctions to take place on April 23. With Britain now supporting at least a
suspension of Burma sanctions, the only question is the depth and width of the
relaxation.
