US keeps import ban on Myanmese jewels
US President Barack Obama's executive order on Wednesday continues a gradual lifting of sanctions aimed at encouraging political and economic reforms since the military government that had run the country for five decades stepped aside in 2011.
The United States has maintained a ban on importing rubies and jade amid a relaxation of curbs on trade with Myanmar, American officials said.
US President Barack Obama's executive order on Wednesday continues a gradual lifting of sanctions aimed at encouraging political and economic reforms since the military government that had run the country for five decades stepped aside in 2011.
"The administration is maintaining restrictions on specific activities and actors that contribute to human rights abuses or undermine Burma's democratic reform process," deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said.
The ban on imports of Myanmese jade and rubies remains in place because of concerns that the mining of those gems benefits military figures and shadowy businessmen and fuels corruption and human rights abuses in ethnic minority regions that have been theatres of armed conflict for decades.
"We want to encourage responsible trade and investment in Burma, and at the same time we want to continue to target ... those sectors and entities and individuals that we consider to be problematic," said a US official.
The ban on rubies, jade and jewellery that contains them would have lapsed with the expiry on July 28 of a general import ban under the Burma Freedom and Democracy Act.