The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of May 1 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Global Affairs Canada released information on seven categories of tariff rate quotas under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on May 1. The TRQs apply to:

Plant importers will be able to apply for permits electronically starting in June, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a May 1 notice. "Removing the hard-copy requirement makes the electronic application process easier, faster and cheaper, and reduces the administrative burden," the CFIA said. "This updated process promotes electronic access to CFIA services in line with the Agency's priority to offer digital-first tools and services."

While the Canada Revenue Agency may seek broad financial records from non-resident companies, those companies aren't necessarily required to provide records of transactions not involving Canada, said Cyndee Todgham Cherniak, a lawyer with LexSage, in a blog post. "We are aware of at least one situation where a Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) auditor has demanded that a non-resident (U.S.) company to provide a complete electronic copy of their financial records for the purposes of a goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax audit," she said. "The CRA’s request covers financial records of all U.S. transactions and all world-wide transactions that have no connection whatsoever with Canada (in addition to Canadian sales transactions). In other words, the CRA is not permitting non-resident company to isolate transactions involving Canada -- they want everything."

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing issued guidance that includes information on the effects of sanctions on issuers listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. A section on trade or economic sanctions details requirements for disclosure to investors and the ramifications of exposure to sanctioned companies and businesses.

The Department of the Treasury is “initiating a renewal of the public certificate securing the www.treasury.gov website,” which includes the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s “sanctions list downloads,” OFAC said in a May 1 technical notice. The certificate is being replaced May 16 at 9 p.m. EDT and will take about three to six hours for the "replacement certificate to be distributed worldwide,” the notice said. “If your application pins or otherwise trusts the serial number of the existing certificate as part your application functionality, you may need to update your configuration to trust the renewed certificate,” OFAC said. Questions should be directed to O_F_A_C@treasury.gov or the tech support hotline at 1-800-540-6322.

U.S. economic sanctions are on a path toward losing power and impact, potentially undercutting a variety of tools used in U.S. foreign policy, according to a study published April 29 by the Center for a New American Security. The study, “Economic Dominance, Financial Technology, and the Future of U.S. Economic Coercion,” examines the current state of U.S. economic sanctions and makes several predictions, portraying a muddy outlook for the future of U.S. sanctioning tools. “If policymakers want to be able to continue deploying coercive economic tools effectively … they must ... get ahead of trends that could, if left unchecked, weaken some of the most important tools of U.S. foreign policy,” the study said.

Reps. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Michael McCaul, R-Texas, are working on legislation that would strengthen U.S.-imposed sanctions on Russia, they said during a House Foreign Affairs Committee meeting May 1. Engel said they are planning to introduce a bill that will “protect America’s interests, ramp up the targeted sanctions, enhance diplomacy and counter propaganda efforts to meet the Russian threat.” McCaul said he and Engel had breakfast with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier that day and said “there’s no doubt” Pompeo “looks at Russia as a great threat” to the U.S. “I don't think this is a partisan issue,” McCaul said. “I hope we can pass legislation out of this committee.”

Maersk will offer a new customs clearance online shipping management platform in Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom and Spain, the company said in a news release. “This new one-stop-shop allows us to timely and efficiently handle export and import declarations for our customers," said Vincent Clerc, chief commercial officer of A.P. Moller-Maersk. "The solution provides downstream benefits of full governance and compliance, eliminates the need to provide a quote as pricing is displayed online, saving three to five minutes per quote.” The company plans to expand the service to the rest of the world by the end of the year. "It saves our customers time, money and headaches reducing the number of intermediaries they deal with from three or four to just one as well as paperwork which subsequently reduce the time spent on transactional procedures," Clerc said. "Time saved they can then devote to grow their businesses.”

The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:​​