There are two situations that require payment for "B2 payment," the Canada Border Services Agency said in an emailed reminder. When a Detailed Adjustment Statement is issued, "Importers/Brokers can make a payment at the Port, or they can make a payment online," CBSA said. "If the payment is made online, the importer/broker must send an email" to CBSA-ASFC_CARM.GCRA@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca and "provide the BN15, B2 number(s), the amount owing on the B2, and the payment amount and payment date is needed." When no DAS is issued yet, "Importers/Brokers must make their payment at the Port. The Cashiers will code the payment in ARL to identify it as a pre-paid B2," it said. "When the B2 posts to the account the payment will automatically match to it."

Sri Lanka looks set to create an authorized economic operator (AEO) program to provide expedited customs clearance for low-risk importers. The country’s 2019 budget proposal, presented in the Sri Lankan parliament March 5, includes provisions on the new AEO program, as well as on changes to Sri Lanka’s “port and airport development levy,” KPMG said in a client alert. Among those changes are new exemptions from the levy for alfalfa meal and pellets for the livestock industry and goods imported for construction of large projects, as well as a reduction in the levy for certain high-tech plant, machinery and equipment, the firm said.

Japan’s upcoming imperial succession will bring customs clearance to a halt, and the arrival of any cargo during the period should be avoided, according to a client alert from the Arpin International Group. The “Golden Week” will be held April 29-May 6, marking the abdication of Japanese Emperor Akihito and the accession to the throne of Crown Prince Naruhito. “Most public authorities, customs offices, harbor companies, and many general companies will be closed during this time,” Arpin said.

The country name for Macedonia is now North Macedonia in the Automated Export System, the Census Bureau said in an email. The International Standards Organization country code will remain as MK, it said. CBP posted an updated Automated Export System Trade Interface Requirements document that includes the change.

India is considering a proposal that would restrict the sharing of sensitive e-commerce data while treating the data as a “national asset,” the government said in a draft of its “national e-commerce policy.” The draft, released Feb. 24, has been deemed “highly protectionist,” according to a report on Indian legal news portal Live Law, and stakeholders are concerned about whether the policy actually can be implemented and enforced. If the proposal is implemented, data flow involved in e-commerce “cannot be made available to a foreign government without the prior permission of Indian authorities,” the report said.

Oleg Deripaska, a Russian businessman who was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018, sued the Treasury Department last week, alleging its sanctions rely on “unsubstantiated” allegations and have led to the “utter devastation” of his “wealth, reputation, and economic livelihood,” according to court documents. The suit, filed March 15, requests that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia order Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control to remove the sanctions. It names Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Treasury Department OFAC Director Andrea Gacki, the Treasury Department and OFAC as defendants.

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

The Ukrainian parliament recently gave preliminary approval to a draft law creating an authorized economic operator (AEO) trusted trader program, according to an alert from the law firm CMS. If approved, AEO status will give Ukrainian companies a simplified customs declaration procedure, a shortened form of import declaration, priority for customs procedures and permission to use a special traffic lane for truck border crossings, the alert said. To qualify, the company must be a registered resident entity in Ukraine, have no criminal records related to commercial activity (including company officials), have not committed repetitive or systematic violations of customs rules, and be financially solvent. A second and final vote in parliament is required before the bill is passed, CMS said.

The United Kingdom signed trade continuity agreements with Fiji and Papua New Guinea to continue trading on the same terms after the U.K.’s planned withdrawal from the European Union, the U.K.’s Department for International Trade said. “The agreement allows businesses to trade as freely as they do now, without any additional barriers or tariffs. It eliminates all tariffs on all goods imported from Fiji and Papua New Guinea into the UK and will gradually remove around 80% of tariffs on British exports to these countries,” it said.

The United Kingdom is making changes to its transit procedures to prepare for its planned withdrawal from the European Union, HM Revenue and Customs said in guidance posted March 13. Though the U.K. will lose access to the EU’s Union Transit procedures, which govern transit shipments between EU member states, it has come to an agreement with the EU to join the Common Transit Convention, which applies to the EU, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Turkey, North Macedonia and Serbia.