Brazil recently issued updated guidance that “aims to modernize and facilitate” procedures related to origin facilitation, KPMG said in a March 5 client alert. “Among other innovations,” the new guidance establishes that “an origin declaration may be presented for tariff preference purposes if provided for in the relevant trade agreement,” and also says “self-regulation (via import declarations) may be allowed for the importer, buyer or consignee, subject to certain conditions, and before [Brazil customs] initiates a procedure regarding the proof of origin,” KPMG said. The guidance also sets definitions for key terms, including proof of origin, declaration of origin and certificate of compliance.

As part of its Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, the Philippines’ Department of Finance has created post clearance audit functions for the country's Bureau of Customs and announced a new prior disclosure program, which allows companies to minimize their penalties for errors and omissions on import documentation, according to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers alert. Post-clearance audits can include audits of importers, customs brokers, agents and “all other parties engaged in the customs clearance and processing functions,” according to the notice. Auditors can also review all export- and import-related records “required to be kept by law,” the notice said. The prior disclosure program, the notice said, allows the Philippines’ Bureau of Customs commissioner to consider previous disclosures of errors and omissions in goods declarations by importers “as a potential mitigating factor in determining penalties.” All disclosures must contain "the errors and payment of deficient amounts of duties, taxes and penalties."

Hong Kong lifted its ban on American lettuce harvested in Arizona, according to a report issued March 6 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The ban, officially lifted March 5, stems from a 2018 U.S. E. coli outbreak “likely linked to ... Romaine lettuce produced in” Arizona, USDA said. The Hong Kong Government Centre for Food Safety said in a notice that was included in USDA’s report that it lifted the ban after an “investigation report and the implementation of surveillance programme by the US authorities.”

China said it is blocking some imports of canola from Canada over pest concerns, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported on March 6. "I can tell you responsibly that the Chinese government's decision is definitely well founded," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said during a news briefing, according to the CBC. "Upon verification, China customs has recently detected dangerous pests in canola imported from Canada many times." The CBC reported on March 5 that shipments of canola from Richardson International, a major Canadian exporter, were being blocked and China customs canceled the company's registration on March 1.

Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., said in a letter on March 5 that she is seeking support from other members for her bill that will “maintain current firearm export policies” instead of adopting a proposal by the Trump administration that she said would create less oversight for gun exports. The administration's proposal, Torres wrote, would transfer oversight for firearms exports from the Department of State to the Department of Commerce, which would not require American gun and ammunition manufacturers to register with the State Department. “Firearms sales would be approved with little to no congressional oversight,” wrote Torres, who introduced the Prevent Crime and Terrorism Act that she said would nix the proposal. “If we are not careful, some of those firearms could end up in the hands of dictators, terrorists, and narco-traffickers.”

The Bureau of Industry Security seeks comments on the burden on importers from its information collections related to license exceptions and exclusions for products subject to Export Administration Regulation export controls, it said. The agency is set to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget for these information collection requirements, which may include reporting or record-keeping requirements. Comments on the requirements and BIS's estimate of their burden on importers are due May 6.

Companies not established in the United Kingdom will not be able to use most simplified procedures and customs facilitations in the U.K. should the country leave the European Union with no trade deal in place, the U.K.’s HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said In a guidance document issued March 6. That means that, to keep using the procedures, companies must either be a sole trader resident in the U.K.; have a registered office in the U.K.; or have a permanent place of business in the U.K. to carry out business activities, HMRC said.

The U.S. plans to increase sanctions on Iran by targeting certain foreign entities doing business with the country, potentially creating more compliance issues for American companies, according to Steven Brotherton, principal at KPMG. Speaking at a KPMG export controls information event, Brotherton said he was told in a recent meeting with an official from the Department of State’s Counter Threat Finance and Sanctions sector that the U.S. administration will be doing “a number of things to really ratchet up the sanctions on Iran.”

A recent fine on a U.S. company while simultaneously penalizing the manager of the company's foreign subsidiary after both violated sanctions on Iran seems reflective of the increasingly aggressive nature and number of U.S. enforcement actions taken on sanctions violations during the last few months, according to several Washington trade lawyers. The fine was called “unprecedented” in early February by the Department of the Treasury. After distributing just one penalty through the first eight months of 2018, the Office of Foreign Assets Control doled out six penalties during the last four months of 2018, according to the office's records. And two months through 2019, OFAC already has administered four penalties worth more than $7 million, according to the agency, including a $5.5 million penalty against the German subsidiary of an Illinois-based company on Feb. 14.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is issuing an interim final rule amending requirements for shipping lithium ion cells and batteries on passenger and cargo aircraft. The interim final rule “prohibits the transport of lithium ion cells and batteries as cargo on passenger aircraft; requires lithium ion cells and batteries to be shipped at not more than a 30 percent state of charge aboard cargo-only aircraft when not packed with or contained in equipment; and limits the use of alternative provisions for small lithium cell or battery shipments to one package per consignment,” PHMSA said. A limited exception is included for replacement batteries for medical devices on passenger aircraft. The interim final rule is intended to align the U.S. Hazardous Materials regulations with the 2015-16 edition of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air. The new regulations take effect March 6, and comments on the interim final rule may be submitted until May 6.