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

In the March 7 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

Export licenses issued by United Kingdom authorities will no longer be valid for dual-use exports from the European Union if the U.K. leaves the EU with no deal on March 29, the U.K. Department for International Trade said in a guidance document issued March 6. The same goes for licenses issued by other EU member states, which after a no-deal Brexit could no longer be used to export dual use items from the U.K., the guidance said.

As long as the trade talks are limited to industrial goods -- which does include fisheries under World Trade Organization rules -- European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said she thinks the talks could conclude before the current commission leaves office in late October. Malmstrom was visiting Washington to talk to her counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and to give a speech at the Georgetown Law International Update.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency sent an AIRS update announcing that it will now recommend refusing entry to African giant pouched rats and squirrels of subheading 0511.99.1294.19. The release recommendation for that subheading had previously been “not regulated by CFIA.”

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced the approval of a bill that will strengthen protection of Japanese patents and intellectual property rights, the ministry said in a March 1 notice. The bill, called the Act of Partial Revision of the Patent Act, is aimed at protecting the “important technologies and other strong points of Japanese companies,” the notice said. The bill includes a new system in which “neutral technological experts” will complete on-site inspections of companies that are suspected of infringing on patents. Japan is also changing its method for calculating compensation for victims of patent infringement, allowing “rights holders to request” damages from the infringer “for all products sold by the infringer.” The bill also makes changes to Japan’s Design Act, the notice said, which includes expanding the scope of protected designs.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control extended the expiration date of two general licenses related to GAZ Group, allowing certain transactions involving the sanctioned company until July 6, 2019, OFAC said in March 6 notice. The previous expiration date, issued in a Jan. 16 notice, was March 7. The sanctions against GAZ Group are Ukraine-related, and the company was designated as an “oligarch-owned” entity after OFAC said in a April 2018 notice that the company was owned or controlled by “Russian Machines” and oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who also is identified as having a large stake in Russian aluminum producer Rusal. The notice said GAZ Group is Russia’s “leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles.”

The State Department seeks comments by May 7 on a proposed change to its procedures for submitting voluntary disclosures of violations of the Arms Export Control Act. “Historically, respondents to this information collection submitted their disclosures to [the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC)] in writing via hard copy documentation. However, as part of an IT modernization project designed to streamline the collection and use of information by DDTC, a discrete form has been developed for the submission of voluntary disclosures. This will allow both DDTC and respondents submitting a disclosure to more easily track submissions,” it said. As it sends the new information collection procedure to OMB for approval, State seeks comments on whether the information collection is necessary, how it can be improved, and how the burden on industry can be reduced.

The Bureau of Industry and Security and the State Department seek comments by April 22 to inform its review of recently revised export controls on launch vehicles and spacecraft, they said in two separate notices. Conducted as part of their work on the National Space Council, the agencies seek input on how to streamline controls for the commercial space industry, particularly in light of recent moves from U.S. Munitions List Categories IV and XV to the dual use Commerce Control List.

Importers into the United Kingdom will be able to pay VAT on periodic returns rather than at the time of entry if the U.K. leaves the European Union with no deal in place on March 29, HM Revenue and Customs said in a guidance document issued March 6. “This will apply to goods from both EU and non-EU countries and will help businesses currently moving goods into the UK from other EU member states to reduce any cash flow impacts after the UK leave the EU,” the guidance said.