The Government of Myanmar has announced that it will gradually lift the ban on rice exports that has been in place since 7 August this year following widespread severe flooding that threatened output of the main 2015 rice crop and raised concern over a possible shortage of domestic supplies, which in turn led to price hikes. However, a gradual lifting of the ban is planned, starting as of 15 September, to minimize the disruption to the country’s exports, which have been building up over the past few year. The ban will be lifted first for varieties of rice that are low in demand locally, such as parboiled rice, and eventually removed from all varieties.