China’s General Administration of Customs updated the “message format” for its import and export declaration forms, the agency said in a Dec. 31 notice, according to an unofficial translation. The update allows entities to “generate electronic data messages” to the agency, the notice said. China said the update is related to plans to start a two-step import declaration program (see 1908150031).

Hong Kong’s Trade and Industry Department released a list of 19 entities that are exempt from certain conditions and licensing requirements for air shipments of “strategic commodities,” according to a Jan. 2 notice. The exemptions, announced as part of Hong Kong’s “Air Transhipment Cargo Exemption Scheme for Specified Strategic Commodities,” applies to airlines, ground handling agents and freight forwarders that are “successfully registered” and were granted a certificate of exemption by the head of the Trade and Industry Department, Hong Kong said. The entities include UPS, FedEx, DHL Aviation, Japan Airlines and others.

China’s General Administration of Customs released guidance and more information about China’s plans to reduce import tariffs on more than 850 items in 2020 (see 1912230051), according to a notice released Dec. 30. The agency said it will soon issue a 2020 edition of the “Import and Export Tariff of the People's Republic of China,” and has published on its customs “portal” a “Catalogue for the Declaration of Customs Import and Export Commodities” regarding the tariff reductions, according to an unofficial translation. The customs administration also said it has adjusted “relevant customs commodity numbers” to “effectively implement the tentative tax rates.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking exporters to participate in its first trade mission of 2020 in Casablanca, Morocco, March 16-19, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service said in a Jan. 2 press release. The mission will focus on increasing exports to “all of North Africa” and will include buyers from Algeria, Libya and Tunisia. USDA said Morocco is a “promising market” due to the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement and the country’s “high-quality infrastructure and stable economy.” U.S. exporters will have the opportunity to meet with potential customers and participate in “in-depth briefings and site visits to provide insights into exporting to the region,” USDA said. The mission is one of seven planned for 2020 (see 1912060027). The deadline to apply is Jan. 16.

The Commerce Department is adjusting its civil monetary penalties for inflation, the agency said in a notice published in the Federal Register. The 2020 adjustments for inflation will apply only to penalties “with a dollar amount, and will not apply to [penalties] written as functions of violations,” the notice said. The changes will take effect Jan. 15.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for 2019 in case they were missed.

Although multilateral export regimes share many of the same concerns over emerging technologies, coming to an agreement on the controls is proving increasingly difficult, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Regimes are facing issues reaching consensus due to the large number of “membership combinations” across multiple regimes, which have to take into account the needs of every state, and an inability to coordinate, the report said.

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia recently signed a customs agreement based on the World Customs Organization’s authorized economic operator program, according to a Dec. 31 report from Zawya, a Dubai-based news organization. The deal will better “promote the flow of goods between” the countries, the report said, and help both nations conform to international trading standards and regulations.

The United Kingdom will soon update its list of dual-use items that are controlled for export, the Department for International Trade said in a Dec. 31 notice. The changes will reflect decisions recently made by “international export control regimes” and which will be adopted by the European Union, the notice said. The DIT said it will publish another notice when the regulations have been updated along with “associated changes to open general export licenses.” The European Commission recently published details of the upcoming changes agreed to at the Wassenaar Arrangement (see 1912120011), which include changes to export controls for discrete microwave transistors, certain software, lasers, diffusion bonding technology and more.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Dec. 31 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):