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

In the May 2 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

An updated free trade agreement entered into effect May 1 between Argentina and Chile, complementing an existing agreement that has been in effect for more than 20 years, the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Relations said in a press release. While the existing trade agreement provides for duty-free trade in goods, the new agreement includes modern rules on investment, services, procurement, telecommunications and e-commerce.

A recent ruling issued by the Mexico Secretariat of Economy clarifies an exemption from requirements to demonstrate compliance with Mexican product standards for certain products under a Mexican Sectoral Promotion Program (PROSEC), the Confederation of Mexican Customs Broker Associations (CAAAREM) said in a circular. Though many goods are required to have a certificate of compliance on file at entry beginning June 3, that requirement does not apply for (1) entries for consumption (2) by an importer with a PROSEC in effect, if (3) the imported merchandise will be used in the production of merchandise listed in article 4 of the PROSEC regulations, said the circular, as provided by trade consultancy AJR Comercio Exterior. That means that goods may be exempt even if they aren’t listed in paragraph 5 of the PROSEC decree, CAAAREM said.

Mexico is still a few weeks away from an updated list of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, Mexican Undersecretary for Foreign Trade Luz Maria de la Mora said in a recent interview, according to a report from the Mexican TV network Multimedios. The updated list will include agricultural and industrial goods as well as steel products, she said. That’s similar to the current composition of the current tariffs, imposed in June 2018 in response to U.S. Section 232 tariffs (see 1903140025). Mexico will apply the updated tariffs for a few months, then see what the result is, hoping that the U.S. eliminates its Section 232 tariffs on Mexico, she said.

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare is asking for input on substances, specifically “synthetic resins,” used in food packaging, as it develops a list of approved products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture' Foreign Agricultural Service said in an April 26 notice. Japan notified the World Trade Organization last year of “its intent to replace its current negative list of synthetic resins for food packaging and container materials with a positive list,” USDA said. Since then, Japan has created a “provisional list” of substances, but is seeking input from the “foreign industry” to “ensure that the new positive list contains substances in current use, including those not commonly used in Japan but of importance to foreign operators,” the notice said.

Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., introduced a bill on April 30 that would lift the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba and impose export controls on trades with the island. The bill, "United States-Cuba Relations Normalization Act," said the U.S. can “best support democratic change and human rights” in Cuba by, among other conditions, “promoting trade and commerce.” The bill said normal trade relations would help Cuba’s economy transform into a free market and “assist Cuba in adopting regional and world trading rules and principles." If passed, the bill would authorize “new restrictions” on Cuban trade, including export controls under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018. The embargo would lift 60 days after the bill is enacted. The bill was introduced the same day President Donald Trump threatened Cuba with the “highest-level sanctions” and a “complete embargo” if it does not stop military operations in Venezuela (see 1904300228).

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., is asking for co-sponsors on a bill that would designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, just one day after reports surfaced that the White House is also pursuing sanctions against the group. In a May 1 letter, Diaz-Balart said that while the U.S. has designated individual members and branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, it has not yet sanctioned it “as a whole.” He said the foreign terrorist designation would impose “tough sanctions on a dangerous organization with longstanding ties to violent, extremist groups.” Diaz-Balart introduced similar legislation in recent years. The White House has asked national security officials to “find a way” to sanction the group, according to an April 30 report in The New York Times. The White House’s request came after Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi visited Washington on April 9 and “urged” President Donald Trump to join his country in sanctioning the organization, the report said.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control reached a settlement of about $870,000 with a New York-based shipbroking company that OFAC said violated weapons-related sanctions five times. The company, MID-SHIP Group LLC, violated the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations by negotiating contracts among ship owners and charterers worth about $470,000 between February and November 2011, OFAC said May 2. The ships used in the transfers were owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which was sanctioned by OFAC in 2008.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control published a 12-page guide on sanctions compliance for U.S. and foreign businesses, detailing what OFAC defines as effective compliance programs and outlining several “root causes” of sanctions violations. The guide, published May 2, delves into the level of compliance that OFAC expects from companies and how best to avoid sanctions violations. The guide covers five categories: management commitment, risk assessment, internal controls, testing and auditing, and training.