AT the invitation of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, the Myanmar delegation led by Union Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation U Min Naung attended the 9th China-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Cooperation.
The Union minister and his delegation arrived in Chongqing on the evening of 11 November and were welcomed by the Deputy Mayor of Chongqing Municipality. On the morning of 13 November, a welcoming ceremony was held by the Party Secretary of Chongqing at the HUALUXE Chongqing Science Hall Hotel, attended by representatives from ASEAN member countries, including the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand and the Minister of Agriculture.
The Union minister and his delegation attended the opening ceremony of the 2025 Land-Sea New Corridor Economic Development Forum and Logistics Expo and toured the exhibition booths.
In the afternoon, the 9th ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting on Pest Control Cooperation was held. The Union minister attended the meeting along with agriculture ministers from ASEAN countries. It was co-chaired by Ms Sun Meijun, Minister of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, and the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines.
The Union minister stated that Myanmar had discussed the upgrading of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area 3.0 and emphasized the importance of ASEAN-China pest control cooperation, which plays a key role in food safety, plant and animal health, and the facilitation of agricultural trade. He added that Myanmar fully supports the ASEAN-China Plant and Animal Disease Cooperation Work Plan 2026–2027. Accelerating cooperation in digital technologies, such as exchanging electronic SPS (e-SPS) certificates through the ASEAN Single Window (ASW), will significantly improve transparency and efficiency in agricultural trade for all member countries.
On the morning of 12 November, the Myanmar delegation led by the Union minister inspected the Huakang (Maca) crop and Sankit fruit plantations in Jiangjin, Chongqing. The Director-General of the Department of Agriculture, who accompanied the delegation, co-chaired the 9th ASEAN-China Pest Control Cooperation Contact Persons Meeting on 12 November together with the Director-General from the International Cooperation Department of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China.
In the afternoon, the Myanmar delegation led by the Union minister met with the delegation headed by Mr Zhao Zeng Lian, Deputy Minister of the General Administration of Customs (GACC) of the People’s Republic of China, and reached an agreement to discuss the temporary suspension of export permits for 25 green-bean exporting companies and seven banana-exporting companies from Myanmar due to pesticide-residue levels.
In addition, the GACC will continue discussions and coordination with the relevant Director-Generals of its Crop, Meat, and Fish sectors regarding the protocols submitted for signature, and will assist with the special agreement required for the export of bird’s nests from Myanmar. — MNA/MKKS
