CBP is starting to automate filings on used-car exports, a move that will help it more efficiently regulate an industry that has been “heavily infiltrated” by international criminal organizations, said Jim Swanson, director of CBP’s cargo and conveyance security and controls division. Swanson said CBP will move from a paper-based to an electronic-based filing system for used-car exports, which will allow the agency to verify or prohibit certain exports more quickly and accurately, abandoning an old method that sometimes resulted in original car titles getting lost.

In the March 6 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The United Kingdom’s new Trade Remedies Investigations Directorate began work March 6 on administering the U.K.’s new framework for antidumping and countervailing duties that will be necessary once the U.K. leaves the European Union, the U.K. Department for International Trade said in a press release. The temporary directorate “will administer trade remedies functions until the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) is legally established as an independent body with the passing of the Trade Bill,” the release said.

The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices for March 6 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

The Mexico Tax Administration Service announced that it has added a functionality in its VUCEM single window to allow downloads in PDF format of receipts of electronic submission of import documentation. Available in the “Consulta Documento Digitalizado” section, the new functionality is available as of March 6, SAT said. Electronic document receipts are required as part of “electronic files” of import and export documentation that must be maintained by importers, exporters and customs agents in Mexico under a regulation that took effect Dec. 22, 2018.

Brazil recently issued updated guidance that “aims to modernize and facilitate” procedures related to origin facilitation, KPMG said in a March 5 client alert. “Among other innovations,” the new guidance establishes that “an origin declaration may be presented for tariff preference purposes if provided for in the relevant trade agreement,” and also says “self-regulation (via import declarations) may be allowed for the importer, buyer or consignee, subject to certain conditions, and before [Brazil customs] initiates a procedure regarding the proof of origin,” KPMG said. The guidance also sets definitions for key terms, including proof of origin, declaration of origin and certificate of compliance.

As part of its Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, the Philippines’ Department of Finance has created post clearance audit functions for the country's Bureau of Customs and announced a new prior disclosure program, which allows companies to minimize their penalties for errors and omissions on import documentation, according to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers alert. Post-clearance audits can include audits of importers, customs brokers, agents and “all other parties engaged in the customs clearance and processing functions,” according to the notice. Auditors can also review all export- and import-related records “required to be kept by law,” the notice said. The prior disclosure program, the notice said, allows the Philippines’ Bureau of Customs commissioner to consider previous disclosures of errors and omissions in goods declarations by importers “as a potential mitigating factor in determining penalties.” All disclosures must contain "the errors and payment of deficient amounts of duties, taxes and penalties."

Hong Kong lifted its ban on American lettuce harvested in Arizona, according to a report issued March 6 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The ban, officially lifted March 5, stems from a 2018 U.S. E. coli outbreak “likely linked to ... Romaine lettuce produced in” Arizona, USDA said. The Hong Kong Government Centre for Food Safety said in a notice that was included in USDA’s report that it lifted the ban after an “investigation report and the implementation of surveillance programme by the US authorities.”

China said it is blocking some imports of canola from Canada over pest concerns, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported on March 6. "I can tell you responsibly that the Chinese government's decision is definitely well founded," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said during a news briefing, according to the CBC. "Upon verification, China customs has recently detected dangerous pests in canola imported from Canada many times." The CBC reported on March 5 that shipments of canola from Richardson International, a major Canadian exporter, were being blocked and China customs canceled the company's registration on March 1.

Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., said in a letter on March 5 that she is seeking support from other members for her bill that will “maintain current firearm export policies” instead of adopting a proposal by the Trump administration that she said would create less oversight for gun exports. The administration's proposal, Torres wrote, would transfer oversight for firearms exports from the Department of State to the Department of Commerce, which would not require American gun and ammunition manufacturers to register with the State Department. “Firearms sales would be approved with little to no congressional oversight,” wrote Torres, who introduced the Prevent Crime and Terrorism Act that she said would nix the proposal. “If we are not careful, some of those firearms could end up in the hands of dictators, terrorists, and narco-traffickers.”