The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
In the Feb. 19-24 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
Norway’s new value-added tax regime for e-commerce transactions will take effect April 1, according to a Feb. 21 KPMG post. As part of the regime, foreign suppliers of “low-value goods” will be required to calculate and collect VAT on their sales into Norway, and VATs on e-commerce cannot be used for goods valued higher than NOK 3,000, or about $320, per item. Suppliers transporting the goods must ensure the “VAT on e-commerce information” is “available” to the Norwegian customs authority, “preferably in a pre-notification in digital format.”
China is not requiring consignors and consignees to be present during customs inspections of imports and exports in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus, according to a Feb. 24 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The measure is also aimed at increasing the speed of inspections and releases of goods, the report said.
China’s General Administration of Customs will allow imports of U.S. fresh potatoes that meet certain inspection and quarantine requirements, according to an unofficial translation of a Feb. 21 notice. The notice includes an attachment with the specific requirements that all U.S. potato imports must meet.
China lifted import restrictions on certain pet foods containing “ruminant ingredients,” according to an unofficial translation of a Feb. 19 notice from China’s General Administration of Customs. The agency said it will release inspection and quarantine requirements for pet food imports in a separate notice.
A pro-free trade think tank in Canada published an analysis of the new NAFTA, known as CUSMA in Canada, and finds it lacking. “CUSMA has little traditional tariff liberalization, introducing only minor changes to market access compared to the NAFTA, and limited improvements in trade facilitation, while at the same time introducing a number of features that promise to be more restrictive of trade,” wrote the authors of the C.D. Howe Institute paper.
The Financial Action Task Force said Iran has not addressed its “deficiencies” in its anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing controls and urged members to “apply effective counter-measures” against the country, according to a Feb. 21 FATF press release. Countermeasures include greater due diligence when doing business with Iran, including greater “supervisory examination” of subsidiaries within the country and “increased external audit requirements.” The FATF said Iran has failed to address a host of terrorism and money-laundering concerns, including “adequately criminalizing terrorist financing,” freezing terrorist assets in line with United Nations Security Council resolutions and verifying wire transfers.
The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security will submit a proposal for collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget relating to procedures for parties to request removal from the Entity List or Unverified List, according to a notice published in the Federal Register. Comments are due to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov by March 26.
The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security will send an information collection proposal to the Office of Management and Budget relating to reports of requests for restrictive trade practices or boycotts, according to a notice published in the Federal Register. The information is used to monitor requests for participating in foreign boycotts. Comments are due to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov by March 26.