We had previously issued an Alert on the Frequently Asked Questions (‘FAQs’) issued by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (‘MITI’) on 13 April 2020 in relation to the nationwide Movement Control Order which has been extended until 28 April 2020 (‘MCO Phase 3’) (‘MITI FAQs-III’). Our earlier Alert is available here.
 
Subsequently, MITI issued a fourth set of FAQs on 17 April 2020 (‘MITI FAQs-IV’) to clarify certain aspects of the MITI FAQs-III and to address practical issues arising from the MITI FAQs-III.
 
Below is our summary of the salient provisions of the MITI FAQs-IV. Unless otherwise stated, reference in this Alert to FAQ numbers are FAQ numbers in the MITI FAQs-IV.
 
General Questions on Applications
 
MITI has explained in FAQ No. 7 that a company may amend its application that has been submitted to MITI by submitting a request to updatecims2.0@marii.my, stating the reasons for the amendment. Once the company’s request has been processed, the company may amend and re-submit its application.
 
FAQ No. 7 goes on to state that the request to amend the application may only be made once and that the company must ensure that all information is correct and accurate before re-submitting the application.
 
If a company’s sector/ subsector is not found in CIMS 2.0, the company may select a cluster that is related to the company’s business. If the business is not included in the sectors/ subsectors in CIMS 2.0, it means that the business is not permitted to operate during the MCO Phase 3 (FAQ No. 8.)
 
FAQ No. 9 clarifies that a company is no longer required to complete the “List of Customers and Suppliers” section in CIMS 2.0.
 
Business Operations
 
Workers on the list of workers approved by MITI are required to undergo Covid-19 screening at the panel health clinics of the Social Security Organisation (‘SOCSO’). However, a company that has commenced operations upon receiving MITI’s approval need not cease its operations until all its workers have undergone Covid-19 screening but must ensure that Covid-19 screening is carried out according to the guidelines that will be announced by SOCSO (FAQs No. 15 and 17.)
 
FAQ No. 16 clarifies that the cost of Covid-19 screenings for the workers will be borne by SOCSO.
 
A third-party providing sanitisation services to a company that has been given operating approval by MITI is not allowed to operate using the approval letter issued to the company (FAQ No. 19.)
 
Alert prepared by Tan Wei Liang (Associate) of Skrine.