China and Japan will implement the mutual recognition arrangement for Authorized Economic Operator programs on June 1, the China General Administration of Customs said in a notice, according to an unofficial translation. The countries signed the MRA in October last year. The MRA allows for China to recognize companies certified by Japan's AEO program as certified by China's program and vice versa. The programs give AEO-certified companies expedited customs clearance and reduced inspections, among other benefits. China AEO companies exporting to Japan will need to notify the importer of the AEO company code so the Japanese importer can fill in the required information for the country's customs requirements, according to the translation. "After confirming the identity of China's AEO company, relevant convenience measures will be given," China said. Chinese importers will similarly need to provide a Japanese company's AEO code to receive the benefits, it said.

CBP denied a request from MDT Armor Corp. that the company's temporary importation bond (TIB) be extended after it exported a vehicle beyond the TIB expiration date. CBP said in the April 9 ruling that it found MDT's explanations to be lacking. Panmet Group, an agent working on behalf of MDT, told CBP that it did submit a timely TIB extension request and "was under the impression that the request had been processed." CBP's ruling only applies to the TIB extension request and not liquidated damages, the agency said.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a settlement of $75,375 with Haverly Systems, a New Jersey software company with offices in Texas and California, for violations of the Ukraine Related Sanctions regulations, OFAC said in an April 25 enforcement notice. Haverly violated the sanctions twice between May 2016 and January 2017 when it “dealt in new debt of greater than 90 days maturity” with JSC Rosneft, a Russian oil company that was designated under Ukraine-related sanctions, OFAC said.

Canada and Colombia were removed from the priority watch list for intellectual property violations, and Tajikistan moved off the watch list, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's annual review of countries' policies on patents, trade secrets, counterfeits and piracy. Saudi Arabia was moved up to the priority watch list because of deteriorating conditions there, including "rampant satellite and online piracy," a USTR official said April 25.

The European Union is postponing its deadline for making all customs processes in the EU electronic, it said in a notice published in the April 25 Official Journal. Previously set for Dec. 31, 2020, under the Union Customs Code, the new deadlines for creating electronic systems for many EU customs processes, including customs declarations, entry summaries and export filings, will now fall in 2022 or 2025, depending on the process.

In the April 24 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The United Kingdom's HM Revenue & Customs on April 23 updated its guidance on warehousing procedures to add information on what to do in cases of discrepancies on import documentation, including under- and over-shipments. All goods imported into warehouses in excess of their declared quantity will be considered dutiable and “warehoused provisionally until the matter is resolved,” according to the update.

The Canada Border Services Agency issued an update to the Electronic Commerce Client Requirements Document (ECCRD) for Integrated Import Declaration, it said in an April 23 email. "The changes identified within this Addendum range from minor corrections/additional instructions to [partner government agency] legislative and regulation rule changes," the CBSA said. "Please note that any item highlighted as a Rule Change or Code Change will be available in the Testing environment in May 2019. Following a 5-month period for client testing, the changes identified in this addendum will be migrated into CBSA’s Production environment in October 2019," it said. CBSA recently said it would delay the retirement of the legacy release options (see 1903280062).

Four Chinese nationals were arrested in Singapore after they concealed alcohol shipments from China as soy sauce and did not pay tariffs, according to an April 23 notice from Singapore Customs. The men were involved in a scheme that imported more than 9,000 bottles of “duty-unpaid liquor” packed in more than 600 boxes, the notice said. The importers stored the boxes in an industrial building before Customs officers checked the goods and discovered the smuggling scheme, according to the notice. Singapore Customs said the men evaded about $186,000 worth of duties and about $17,000 worth of the country’s Goods and Services Tax. Importers who fail to pay taxes and duties can be fined “up to 40 times the amount” evaded and face a maximum six-year prison sentence, the notice said. “We will spare no effort in going after sellers as well as buyers of duty-unpaid liquor,” Assistant Director-General of Customs Yeo Sew Meng said in a statement.

Japan’s Cabinet on April 9 strengthened export controls against South Sudan in response to the United Nations Security Council’s 2018 arms embargoes and sanctions against the country, according to a notice from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Japan added the country “to the list of the areas subject to strict export control” in its Export Trade Control Order, the notice said.