The Canada Border Services Agency updated its memorandum on the importation and transportation of goods on Nov. 18 to reflect updates to the definitions and “clarify corrections to cargo control documents," it said. Also new is "bond information and amounts for each mode of transportation" and "information on direct delivery of consolidated shipments," it said. CBSA also added "information on goods found astray (misrouted), non-resident importer, Carnets and other temporary imports, 'to order' shipments, moving company and personal effects, entered to arrive and value included shipments, ships stores, and duty free stores."
Vietnam is developing a list of imports to be banned from bonded warehouses, Vietnam Customs said in a Nov. 19 report from Customs News, the agency’s mouthpiece. The country previously considered banning certain imports of foreign cigarettes and liquor from entering bonded warehouses due to smuggling issues (see 1911050025). The country is now examining “other items which have a high risk of taking advantage” of Vietnam’s bonded warehouse system, the report said.
The lower house of the Japan's National Diet approved the country’s trade deal with the U.S., sending the deal to the upper house for approval, according to a Nov. 19 report from The Japan Times. Japan hopes to ratify the deal before the current Diet session ends Dec. 9, the report said. The deal, signed in October (see 1910070074), is expected to take effect Jan. 1.
Japan is revising its export controls for certain technologies and machine parts, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Nov. 19. The controls will impact certain “detonation” engines, “control devices of gear machine tools,” “optical sensors” and “microwave equipment,” Japan said, according to an unofficial translation.
The U.S. and South Korea reached a deal that will allow for $110 million worth of annual U.S. rice exports to South Korea, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Nov. 19. The agreement will give access to more than 130,000 tons of U.S. rice exports each year and will ensure South Korea is transparent and predictable “around the tendering and auctioning” for U.S. rice. The deal gives the U.S. the “largest volume of guaranteed market access for rice” that it has ever had in South Korea, USTR Robert Lighthizer said. “It will prove enormously beneficial for American producers and their customers in Korea.”
The U.S. and Australia signed a memorandum of understanding on energy mineral resources that partly aims to strengthen trade between the two countries, the State Department said Nov. 18. The agreement supports supply chains of energy materials “by facilitating trade and industry connectivity,” the agency said, part of an effort to increase industry collaboration on mineral-related goods and clean energy technologies. The two sides signed the deal because they “recognize that global demand for energy minerals will increase dramatically in the coming years, presenting complex challenges for countries endowed with these minerals,” the State Department said.
A Virginia-based information technology company may have violated U.S. sanctions in 2017, the company said in a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the period ended on Sept. 30. The company, DXC Technology, said it voluntarily disclosed possible violations to the Office of Foreign Assets Control stemming from “insurance premium data and claims data” processed by two partially owned joint ventures of Xchanging, a London technology company that DXC acquired in 2017. DXC also sent a copy of the disclosure to the United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. The company said it is “finalizing its internal investigation” of the violations and plans to give OFAC more information in early 2020.
A South American airline may have violated U.S. sanctions against Cuba, the airline said in an October filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Avianca Holdings said it recently became subject to U.S. sanctions regulations when its parent company, Synergy Aerospace Corp., conducted a 2018 share-transfer with a Delaware-based company “wholly-owned” by Synergy, the filings said. Soon after the transfer, Avianca said it discovered its “regularly scheduled” flights between Central and South America and Cuba were subject to U.S. laws and may have violated the U.S. Cuban Assets Control Regulations.
The U.S. is ending a sanctions waiver for an Iranian nuclear site and plans to sanction certain Iraqi officials, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Nov. 18. Pompeo said the U.S. will be ending the waiver for the Fordow nuclear facility on Dec. 15. The waiver, which allows certain activities related to the nuclear plant, will be terminated due to Iran beginning uranium enrichment activities at the plant, Pompeo said. “The right amount of uranium enrichment for the world’s largest state sponsor of terror is zero,” he said. “The United States rejects this approach completely and calls on all nations to do the same.”
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 12-15 in case they were missed.