We had previously issued an Alert on Frequently Asked Questions (‘FAQs’) issued by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (‘MITI’) in relation to the Movement Control Order relating to Covid-19 (‘MCO’) that has been implemented in Malaysia from 18 to 31 March 2020 (‘Relevant Period’) (‘MITI FAQs-I’). Our earlier Alert is available here.
 
Following the Government’s announcement that the MCO is extended until 14 April 2020 (‘Extended Period’), MITI has issued FAQs on 6 April 2020 to clarify certain aspects of the MCO during the Extended Period (‘MITI FAQs-II’). In this Alert, we highlight matters that may be of interest to commercial enterprises and businesses under MITI FAQs-II.
 
FAQ No. 1 of MITI FAQs-II states that a company is not allowed to amend its list of employees submitted to MITI once approval has been given by MITI for the company to operate during the MCO period and that only employees set out in the list of employees submitted to MITI are allowed to work in the production division. FAQ No. 1 also states that for other divisions, it is subject to the directives from the Ministry of Human Resources.
 
The logistics division of a company that has obtained MITI’s approval to operate during the MCO period is allowed to continue operations but transportation by land, water and air is subject to the directives from the National Security Council (‘NSC’) and the Ministry of Transport whereas the operations of third-party or private logistics services are subject to the directives from the NSC and the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (FAQ No. 2 of MITI FAQs-II).
 
The approval given by MITI to companies to operate during the Relevant Period will remain valid throughout the period when the MCO remains in force. Companies need not submit a fresh application to MITI to operate (FAQ No. 3 of MITI FAQs-II).
 
MITI has revised FAQ No. 4 of MITI FAQs-I to reiterate that only the manufacture of essential products are allowed to operate. The revised FAQ No. 4 states that companies and factories that have obtained MITI’s approval to operate during the MCO period are not allowed to operate on a full time basis and that the operating hours of such companies and factories are subject to the directives from the NSC, state government and local authority.
 
FAQ No. 5 of MITI FAQs-I has been revised and now states that applications for endorsement of the Certificate of Origin (COO) may be carried out through an alternative process (i.e. back-office) from 30 March 2020 to 14 April 2020 instead of being submitted to MITI’s office.
 
Alert prepared by Tan Wei Liang (Associate) of Skrine.