The recently released 2020 incoterms rules (see 1909100056) are easier to use and understand compared to previous versions, one of several significant changes to the International Chamber of Commerce’s latest revisions, said Frank Reynolds, the U.S. delegate for the ICC’s 2020 drafting group. The ICC said the new incoterms edition is “more accessible” and includes “more detailed explanatory notes with enhanced graphics” to clarify the responsibilities of exporters and importers. It also includes an “extensive introduction … that anybody can understand,” Reynolds said in an interview.

Robert Ernest joined Arent Fox’s logistics and transportation group and will advise clients on international supply chain solutions, Arent Fox said. Ernest previously worked as a general counsel for the Americas region with the Panalpina Group.

In the Sept. 19 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

European Union customs authorities seized about 10,000 more imports of counterfeit goods in 2018 compared with the previous year due to an increase in “small parcels in express and postal traffic,” the European Commission said Sept. 19. The seizures of the counterfeit imports, or items that infringed on intellectual property rights, included mostly cigarettes, toys, packaging material, labels and clothing, the commission said. China was the “main source” of the seized imports, which increased from about 57,000 in 2017 to 69,000 in 2018.

Germany introduced a plan to phase out glyphosate by Dec. 31, 2023, which would ban the use of herbicides containing the chemical, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agriculture Service said in a report released Sept. 18. The date coincides with the European Union’s expiration of its approval of products that contain glyphosate, which will make the chemical illegal throughout the EU, the report said. Germany plans to begin its “glyphosate reduction strategy” in 2020, the USDA said, banning the chemical from being used in private gardens, parks, “specified nature protection zones” and public areas, such as schools and public sports grounds. U.S. food and agricultural exports may be affected starting Jan. 1, 2024, “when the maximum residue level for glyphosate will fall to the detection limit,” the USDA said.

The United Kingdom and Lebanon signed a trade continuity agreement Sept. 19 to ensure the countries trade under current terms after a potential no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31, the U.K. Department for International Trade said in a press release. The agreement would continue "tariff-free trade of industrial products together with liberalisation of trade in agricultural, agri-food and fisheries products," the UKDIT said. The U.K. is already covered by an association agreement between the European Union and Lebanon, but that could change when and if the U.K. leaves the EU with no transition deal in place.

The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs issued guidance documents detailing how to move goods through certain Strait of Dover and Irish Sea ports under transit and carnet procedures in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The Port of Dover and Eurotunnel, as well as the port of Holyhead, cannot process ATA carnets, so the guidance documents include instructions on alternative sites where ATA carnet cargo may be taken for processing. A separate guidance document includes instructions on moving goods through the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel using common transit convention procedures after a no-deal Brexit, including in situations where “diversions are in place to manage freight traffic.” A recently leaked U.K. government study anticipates widespread and long-lasting delays for trucks crossing the Strait of Dover if the U.K. leaves the EU with no deal (see 1908190057).

Austria’s parliament has voted to block a recently signed free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, a Reuters report said. The parliamentary subcommittee vote, supported by nearly all Austrian political parties on the subcommittee, binds the Austrian government to veto the trade agreement with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, which form the trading bloc. The EU declared in 2018 that a single veto would stop the deal from coming into force, Politico said. Austria is set to head to the polls again at the end of September, so the country could yet reverse course. French President Emmanuel Macron, however, has also pledged to block the Mercosur agreement over concerns about Amazon forest fires, Bloomberg has reported.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Sept. 19 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

China increased its meat market supply by releasing 10,000 tons of pork from its central reserves, saying it can guarantee the country’s meat supply through increased meat imports and its “high level” of frozen meat inventory, China’s Ministry of Commerce said Sept. 19, according to an unofficial translation of a news release. China said it will continue “to release pork from central reserves as appropriate to guarantee supply of pork in the market,” according to a report from Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency. The announcement came as U.S. farmers, pork producers and meat exporters continue to face shrinking export markets in China due to the trade war. China recently announced it would add pork to its list of tariff exemptions of U.S. goods (see 1909130013). Also factoring into the reserves release are the upcoming Oct. 1 National Day observances in China, and curtailed domestic pork availability due to “an epidemic of African swine fever that has cut domestic pig production, pushing up demand for pork imports,” according to another Xinhua report.