Myanmar
2.3.1 Myanmar Border Crossing of Tamu (India)
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Overview

Tamu is a town in North West Myanmar in Sagaing region on the border facing the town of Moreh on the Eastern Indian State of Manipur. The Tamu-Moreh crossing is the main channel for Myanmar goods sent to India. Although Tamu is on the International Asean Road AH1 and planned to be a transport hub for cross border traffic, cross border traffic remains limited to local trade in agricultural products and some economic goods mainly produced in India and China. There is no significant potential increase of cross-border trade at Tamu without making significant improvements to the AH1 road section from Monywa or Shewbo to Tamu and improving the border transshipment procedures on both sides. No trucks can cross the border on both sides and all cargo is transshipment by manual labour; hand carried or by using pushcarts. The initiation of a regional bus service between Imphal (India side) to Mandalay which was scheduled to start on 7 April 2020 was delayed. Residents from both sides are normally allowed to travel up to 16 km inside each other’s territory against a day pass (valid up to 1630hrs on the same day) issued on the submission of an identity proof.

Manipur is not a well-developed hinterland. Security has been a concern in Manipur and the area of Moreh (bordering Tamu, on the Indian side) due to insurgency of separatist movements in the area.

BORDER CROSSING LOCATION & CONTACT

Name of Border Crossing:

Tamu (Myanmar) / Moreh (India)

Province or District:

Sagaing

Nearest Town or City:

(Nearest location with distance from port)

Tamu 1 (km)
Kalewa 147 km, 350km Monywa, 476km Mandalay

Latitude:

24.237892

Longitude:

94.300594

Managing Authority/Agency:

Border Trade Customs Office
Location: 24.208917, 94.302414

Contact Person

Mr.Min Aung, Staff Officer
Phone: 09-258333589 / 09-49035465

Travel Times

Nearest International Airport

Kale (126 km)

Truck: 4 hr

Car: 2 hr 35min

Nearest Port

Kalewa (147 km)

Truck: 4:45 hr

Car: 3hr 10min

Nearest Major Market

On Indian side: Imphal

113 km, Truck: 4.5 hrs, Car: 3 hrs


On Myanmar side: Mandalay
481 km, Truck: 17 hrs, Car: 11 hr 45 min

Other Information

 

Road: AH-1 ASEAN road.
Road on the India side is susceptible to landslides in the wet season.
The AH1 has 47 bridges from Kale to Tamu with a 24MT weight limit.

Hours of Operation

Sundays to Saturdays

6:00 am – 6 pm

National Holidays

Open even on national holidays.
9-person Customs staff.

Seasonal constraints

None


Customs Clearance

An average of 40 vehicles per day are processed by customs. The main goods exported are beetle nuts, coconut, cigarettes, seasonal fruits (mango, fruit, legumes) and main imported goods from India are pulses, wheat, cotton yarn, motorcycles. Private cars cannot freely move between the borders. Indian vehicles are not allowed inside Myanmar and vice versa. The vehicles are offloaded in a customs compound each respective country, and then the cargo is moved by manual labour, hand carried or by using pushcarts and motorcycles for a distance of about 1km.

For more information on customs in Myanmar, please see the following link: 1.3 Myanmar Customs Information

Main imports and exports in the month of February 2020 in Tamu:

Category

Product

Weight (MT)

Import

Fertilizer

157.300

Mask

75.616

Plastics film sheet

1.350

Cotton yarn

1.280

Iron pipe

3.170

Metal Grinding, 3 units

0.015

Dry Jim

0.500

Nuts

0.130

Motorcycle spare parts, 15 units

0.020

Motorcycles, 1 unit

0.130

Total (1 month)

239.511

Export

Pulses

3554.000

Betel nuts

1319.000

Cement

1051.050

Sugar

424.000

Garlic

190.000

Rice

175.000

Corn seeds

150.000

Plum fruit

150.000

Cigarettes

107.200

Fish

90.448

Roofing sheet (Iron)

89.000

Dry chille

74.000

Ply wood

315.000

Parkia speciose (or) Cha-aw kao

83.334

General cargo (products from China, plastic furniture, electric products)

0.202

 

Total (1 month)

7,772.234

Customs Clearance Process

Customs clearance time takes about 30 minutes, provided the documents are completed and in order. There are no customs clearance fees except the cost of forms: Import declaration form 50 Kyat, export declaration form 40 Kyat. Gross weight of the cargo will be checked. There is no weight bridge, but a scale is used to weigh cargo units.

All imports and exports can be completed in Tamu, it offers a one-stop service for food, medicines and agricultural products. Commercial invoices and letter of credits are not yet required for most local agricultural products because there used to be a barter trade system and invoices were not available for local products. A detailed packing list is not required

As a minimum, the following are required:

  1. Import License or export license (from dept. of Trade). See Note 1 below.
  2. Import declaration form (Cusdec 1) or export declaration form (Cusdec 2)
  3. Commercial invoice or bill of sale.
  4. For agricultural products: A sanitary certificate (from dept. of Agriculture) for agricultural goods. A fumigation certificate or third party inspection certificate for agricultural products (as is required in Yangon) is not required in Tamu.

Note 1: Depending on the type goods as classified according to the harmonised customs HS-code: licensed / un-licensed goods. Un-licensed goods do not require an import & export license, instead they require only the import and export declaration form and commercial invoice or bill of sale.

Note 2: There is no process possible for goods in transit (form: Cusdec 3) this can only be arranged in Yangon.

Restricted items are precursors (raw materials) for medicines, unregistered medicines, arms & ammunitions, vehicles, radio equipment, illegal drugs, fragrant woods.

Other Relevant Information

In the wet season (June-Oct) volume of cargo is low due to landslides on the Indian side.

For some imported products, like motorcycles and jewellery, these products cross the border somehow.

International banking is restricted in Tamu: it is not possible to make international bank transfers between Tamu and Calcutta (the Main local bank is Kanbawza). This is only possible from approved banks in Yangon.

For more information on government contact details, please see the following link: 4.1 Myanmar Government Contact List


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