The Department of Commerce published its spring 2019 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security. The agenda continues to mention an upcoming a long-awaited proposed rulemaking involving parties’ responsibilities under the Export Administration Regulations in a routed export transaction, saying the proposal will be published in May 2019. Sharron Cook, a senior policy export analyst for BIS, said in April the rule change will help solve some of the bigger frustrations with the current regulations faced by export forwarders (see 1904170064). BIS is aiming to issue the proposal in May, it said.

Turkey recently amended its customs regulations to end a de minimis exemption for low-value goods imported by mail or express courier. The exemption, which previously allowed goods valued at less than €22 ($24.55) to enter duty-free, is being abolished entirely, according to an alert from Turkish law firm BTS & Partners that was posted by Mondaq. The decree, which was published May 15, also amended restrictions on importation of mobile phones carried by passengers. The changes take effect 15 days after publication, i.e., May 30, according to an unofficial translation.

In the May 22 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The Dutch Senate approved legislation that requires companies to examine and prevent the use of child labor in supply chains, the Netherlands announced on May 14. According to an alert from the Akin Gump law firm, "the Dutch law requires companies doing business in the Netherlands or those who provide goods or services to Dutch consumers -- including only through online means, if there is explicit targeting of the Dutch market -- to assess their supply chains to identify any child labor risks and then develop diligence and action plans to address and mitigate any such risks they find."

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

Importers of goods from Vietnam into Mexico cannot currently request preferential duty treatment under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Mexican Confederation of Customs Broker Associations said in a May 21 circular posted by consultancy AJR Comercio Exterior. Though Vietnam has notified Mexico of the format of its certificate of origin to request preferential treatment, some doubts have surfaced about certificates that are being presented by importers, CAAAREM said.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will continue trade in swine products "in the event African swine fever (ASF) is reported in either country," the chief veterinary officers from both countries said in a joint statement. "For business continuity, Canada and the United States have worked to modify their export certificates to allow trade of live swine, swine semen, pet food and animal by-products and meat to continue trade in approved disease-free zones in the event of an ASF outbreak," the CVOs said. The two countries previously set out principles for trade and zoning to help slow the spread of diseases.

Turkey will reduce import tariffs on 22 U.S. products in response to the U.S.’s May 16 decision to cut tariffs on Turkish steel imports, Turkey’s Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan announced May 22 on Twitter. Pekcan said Turkey will reduce tariffs from $521.2 million to $260.6 million on certain U.S. imports after the U.S. announced it decreased tariffs on Turkish iron and steel from 50 percent to 25 percent. The U.S. also said in its announcement that it was terminating Turkey’s eligibility for benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences. “We’ll keep working on eradicating all obstacles to our bilateral trade and achieving 75 billion USD trade volume target set by our Presidents,” Pekcan said. The 22 U.S. products affected by Turkey's tariff reduction include passenger cars, alcohol, tobacco, cosmetics and polyvinyl chloride, Reuters reported May 21, saying that Turkey plans to cut in half the tariff rates on at least those five products and lower the rates on other goods. The new tariff rates will take effect this week, Reuters said.

The Census Bureau emailed some tips "on how to address the most frequent messages that were generated in [the Automated Export System] for this month." Response code 341, which is a warning that involves ultimate consignee information, occurs when "the Party Type is C for Ultimate Consignee and the ‘To Be Sold en Route’ indicator is reported as Yes," Census said. "Incomplete ultimate consignee information may be declared on an EEI when a ‘To Be Sold en Route’ declaration has been made," it said. "However, the actual ultimate consignee must be declared within 4 days of the Estimated Date of Export. Verify the ‘To Be Sold en Route’ indicator, correct the shipment and resubmit." Response code 505 is a fatal error that involves reporting values with non-numerics, Census said. "The Value of Goods must be declared on an EEI as numeric. Round to whole dollars, right justify and zero fill unused positions," the agency said. "Verify the Value of Goods, correct the shipment and resubmit."

The United Kingdom published its 2019 Cyber Attacks (Asset Freezing) Regulations, which will impose new European Union sanctions announced May 17. The sanctions regime, established by the EU Council, allows the EU to “impose targeted restrictive measures to deter and respond to cyber-attacks” that “constitute an external threat” to the EU, according to the announcement. The regime also allows the EU to sanction people or entities who provide “financial, technical or material” support for cyber-attacks or “who are involved in other ways.” Sanctions include travel bans and asset freezes.