A recently adopted EU directive on unfair practices in the food trade will allow U.S. exporters to benefit while adding some compliance requirements, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report. The directive, which was adopted March 12, "forbids certain commercial practices such as late payments for perishable food products or last minute order cancellations," USDA said. "U.S. companies exporting food and agricultural
products to the EU are eligible to benefit from the Directive’s safeguards; U.S. companies will also have to comply with the same rules as European companies, e.g., the Directive forbids unilateral contract changes for perishable goods," USDA said.

Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development recently held a workshop on the use of blockchain technology for supply chain traceability in the textiles and apparel sector, it said in a press release. That comes as part of the early stages of a pilot program to examine the advantages of blockchain, including for certification to consumers of the provenance of textiles and apparel, anti-counterfeiting efforts, and to guarantee the social and environmental sustainability of “Made in Italy” goods, the ministry said. The pilot will include an exploration and design phase, with private industry included in discussions, and will end with a study on the results of the exercise. Among initiatives included in a presentation from the workshop were the tracing of raw cotton and the tracking of products from a luxury goods maker.

Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows:

The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of March 22 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Importers in Mexico that use the Secretary of Economy’s “PROSEC” sectoral promotion program must file annual reports in April or risk losing their benefits under the program, said Mexican law firm Consorcio Juridico Aduanero in a bulletin sent by email March 19. Importers that don’t submit the report, which includes data on national and export sales, will be included on a list of importers published by the Secretary of Economy for which PROSEC import benefits are suspended for the month of May, CJ Aduanero said. If the report is not submitted by the last day of June, the Secretary of Economy will permanently end the importer’s participation in the program.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will revise its requirements for importing koi from the U.S. starting April 15, the agency said in a March 22 notice to industry. All imports of live Koi carp from the U.S. for aquarium and outdoor holding unit end uses will require a valid CFIA import permit and a U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service export certificate, the CFIA said. "Koi carp can no longer be included on the same import permit as other aquatic ornamental species and will require a separate permit," the agency said. Also starting on April 15 "import documentation for live Koi carp imported from the U.S. for aquarium or outdoor holding unit end uses must be reviewed by the National Import Service Centre (NISC)," it said. "Prior to arrival at the first port of entry, all relevant documentation must be submitted to the NISC."

Michael Stashchyshyn, who owned a freight forwarder company in Parsippany, New Jersey, pleaded guilty March 20 to one charge of "conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act," the Justice Department said in a March 21 news release. "In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Stashchyshyn conspired with others to export night sighting equipment, firearm parts, and ammunition to Ukraine without the requisite license issued by the State Department," said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The items were bought in the U.S. and sent to Stashchyshyn, who "then shipped the items to an individual in Ukraine in violation of U.S. law and regulations. The items shipped are contained on the Federal Munitions List and are controlled by the International Traffic in Arms (ITAR) regulations. They are illegal to ship without a license from the State Department, which the defendant and his co-conspirators did not have."

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control updated its Specially Designated Nationals List with several Iran-related designations and non-proliferation designations, OFAC said in a March 22 notice. The additions include 14 individuals and 17 entities, according to the notice, all of which have connections to Iran.

President Donald Trump said he has lifted sanctions on North Korea, with that announcement coming one day after the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced new sanctions involving the country's attempts at evading sanctions. The president's move, announced March 22 on his Twitter account, did not specify which U.S.-imposed sanctions on North Korea would be lifted. “It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!” According to the Associated Press, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a March 22 statement that Trump “likes Chairman Kim and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary.”

China’s reduction in value-added-tax rates will cover a broad scope of Chinese imports and will officially take effect April 1, according to a March 22 press release from China’s State Council. Taxpayers that are subject to the 16 percent VAT rate will see a drop to 13 percent, according to the release, while those subject to the 10 percent VAT rate will see a drop to 9 percent. In addition, the VAT rate for agricultural products will drop from 10 percent to 9 percent. The VAT changes also include an “extension in the scale of goods and services eligible for input tax deductions,” the release said.