(VOVworld) - The US is temporarily easing trade restrictions on Myanmar, by allowing all shipments to go through its ports and airports for six months.

Men sit in a tea house under a calendar with a picture of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in Yangon November 6, 2015. (Reuters/Jorge Silva)

The policy change, coming after Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory last month in Myanmar's first nationwide free elections in 25 years, applies even to ports and airports controlled by entities on the US sanctions blacklist. To bolster Myanmar's transition to democracy after decades of military rule, US officials began lifting sanctions against Myanmar as soon as a civilian government was formed in 2011.

Officials cautioned that while the policy shift allows financing of shipments through blacklisted trade hubs, banks are still barred from doing business directly with the banned firms.

The sanctions relief will be under pressure from Congress to tread carefully, particularly until the new government is fully in place next April.