For weeks, dozens of container ships have dotted the waters of California's San Pedro Bay, waiting to unload at a port experiencing its highest level of congestion in years. With no space to drop their cargo, the ships sit in limbo, further slowing imports and exports and clogging a global trading system that some shippers view as broken.
Firearms trade expert Michael Andersen is the new director of regulatory services for Orchid, a federal firearms license business and compliance software company. Andersen will lead Orchid's international trade practice related to import/export licensing, alcohol, tobacco and firearms compliance, and firearms e-commerce regulations, the company said in a news release. Previously, Andersen was the director of compliance at Brownells, working on federal firearms compliance and international trade programs.
Todd Owen, who was executive assistant commissioner-CBP Office of Field Operations until last year (see 2008070012), recently joined Diaz Trade Law as senior trade adviser, Jennifer Diaz said by email.
The United Arab Emirates recently reinstated its requirement to submit customs declarations after it waived the requirement last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Jan. 29 KPMG post. The requirement was officially reinstated Jan. 31, KPMG said, and businesses will have to submit customs documents to Dubai Customs “within 14 days of processing of the customs declaration on the Mirsal2 portal.”
The European Union will ban imports of oysters, mussels, clams, cockles and scallops from the U.K. indefinitely, according to a Feb. 1 BBC report. The EU had introduced trade restrictions on U.K. shellfish that were expected to last until April, the report said, but a European Commission official last month told the British shellfish industry that the restrictions will remain in place longer. The ban stems from concerns that the shellfish do not meet strict EU hygiene rules, the report said. The European Commission didn’t comment.
Honduras set a 118,800 metric ton import quota for certain rice for 2021 in response to the impacts of hurricanes Eta and Iota on local rice production, according to a Jan. 29 U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report. The country began issuing import licenses last month, USDA said, and they will be valid until Dec. 31. USDA said U.S. rice exporters should contact their clients in Honduras to determine what volume of rice imports they have been allocated.
Argentina and Canada recently made antidumping and countervailing duty determinations on products from China, according to a Jan. 27 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Argentina ended its antidumping investigation on lawn mowers and weeders from China after finding a “lack of sufficient domestic industry support,” the HKTDC said. Canada determined that it will impose antidumping and countervailing duties on certain mainland Chinese decorative and other non‑structural plywood. Canada also began “re-investigations of the normal values and export prices” of certain carbon steel fasteners originating in or exported from China by Qifeng Precision Industry SCI‑TECH Corp. and Jiaxing-based Robertson Inc., the HKTDC said.
As part of an information technology revamping effort, the Indian government introduced an online e-filing system for those looking to import products under the subcontinent's tariff-rate quota system. The new online module, the e-TRQ System, must be used effective Feb. 8 by all importers to submit their TRQ applications on the Directorate General of Foreign Trade's website. Requests for changes or amendments to the TRQ licenses also must be submitted online through the e-TRQ system and no paper copies of the licenses will be provided. Any TRQ applications already submitted for fiscal year 2021-22 yet to be processed will be migrated to the new system with no additional action required of the filing party.
China temporarily suspended imports of cattle and cattle products from Sri Lanka due to an outbreak of “bovine nodular skin diseases” in the country, according to an unofficial translation of a Jan. 28 notice. All illegal imports of cattle from Sri Lanka will be returned or destroyed, China said.
One of the largest impacts felt from the drastic change in mandate and reach of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. in the last few years is how lawyers, business people and investors are viewing the committee. Speaking at a Capitol Forum webinar on Feb. 4, three CFIUS industry experts highlighted how far more resources are being exerted on CFIUS compliance measures than at any time since its inception. This is largely due to the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018, which greatly overhauled CFIUS's responsibilities, including introducing certain mandatory filings for certain foreign transactions (see 1910310053).