The United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade updated its guidance for the open general export license for military goods that have been imported for repair or replacement, according to a Jan. 23 notice. The license is no longer available for registration, the DIT said, but remains available for users who registered before June 20, 2019.
The Czech Republic recently issued clarifications and amendments to its value-added tax laws, according to a Jan. 20 KPMG post. Along with issuing guidance on rules for reporting corrections in VAT returns and VAT ledger statements, the country also reduced the VAT rate for the supply of heating and cooling supplies to 10 percent, which took effect Jan. 1. The Czech Republic issued guidance on determining the “date of supply” of the goods and clarified that “hot water supplies” remain subject to a “first reduced VAT rate” of 15 percent.
The recent entrance of new players into Portugal’s food retail sector will likely increase demand for food imports and open new opportunities for U.S. exporters, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report released Jan. 22. U.S. exports of agricultural goods, fish and forest products to Portugal doubled from 2017 to 2018, the report said, and the country’s improving economy will continue to improve prospects for U.S. exporters. While U.S. exporters may face competition from neighboring European Union countries, the diversity of food products in Portugal’s market is increasing, the report said, and consumers are becoming “more open, creating opportunities for new and foreign products.”
Vietnam is planning to reform its inspection procedures for certain imports and exports in what will be a “key project” in the first months of 2020, according to a Jan. 14 report from Customs News, the mouthpiece for Vietnam Customs. The effort aims to “strongly reform customs procedures in digitization … in accordance with international standards,” the report said. The agency hopes to “substantively” improve the quality of its inspections while reducing costs assessed to traders. Vietnam’s current customs inspection process “faces shortcomings that raise administrative procedures, costs and time for traders,” the report said, and Vietnam hopes the effort helps “clarify” the responsibilities of “state agencies and organizations” in charge of customs inspections.
Not only are the purchase requirements in the new China trade deal unrealistic, other developments in China's economy and the trading relationship make them even further out of reach, according to an analysis by economist Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Bown notes that the rate of growth needed to meet the targets is higher than when China's economy was growing at 10 percent a year, and China's economy is growing more slowly now. Additionally, the tariffs on Chinese goods that remain in place after phase one are a further drag on the economy.
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls released a recording of its Jan. 14 webinar about its Defense Export Control and Compliance System (see 2001210025 and 2001090014), DDTC said in a Jan. 23 notice. The webinar covers the “major features of the DECCS release,” including enrollment steps. DDTC plans to release the registration and licensing applications to the DECCS platform in February.
Congress is examining U.S.-Turkey trade ties -- and the changes to trade policy with Turkey -- more closely, and a recent Congressional Research Service report gives policymakers context for decisions they might make. When Turkey invaded Syria after the U.S. withdrew support for Kurdish forces, there was talk of levying sanctions (see 1910100049, 1910170054 and 1910180060), but since the crisis abated, there was no more discussion of sanctions.
New European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a German wire service that she and President Donald Trump want an agreement that resolves issues “in a few weeks.” But she didn't say how comprehensive such an agreement would be.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is removing the opioid antagonist 6-beta-naltrexol from schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act, it said in a final rule. Effective Jan. 24, DEA is removing “regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions applicable to controlled substances, including those specific to schedule II controlled substances, on persons who handle (manufacture, distribute, reverse distribute, dispense, conduct research, import, export, or conduct chemical analysis) or propose to handle” 6-beta-naltrexol, it said.
The Drug Enforcement Administration permanently placed the synthetic cannabinoids 5F-ADB, 5F-AMB, 5FAPINACA, ADB-FUBINACA, MDMB-CHMICA and MDMB-FUBINACA into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, in a final rule. The substances had already been temporarily listed in Schedule I since 2017 (see 1904050027). The final order takes effect Jan. 24.