The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Jan. 4 (some may also be given separate headlines):

Singapore announced Dec. 31 revised procedures for canceling certificates of origin and preferential COs issued by the country’s customs authority. “Do note that only unutilised CO/PCOs can be cancelled,” it said. The change, which takes effect Jan. 11, requires cancellation requests to be submitted online. Singapore said the canceled hard copy of the CO does not need to be returned to customs.

Hong Kong’s Trade and Industry Department on Jan. 4 released a list of 19 entities that are exempt from certain licensing requirements for air shipments of “strategic commodities.” The exemptions apply to airlines, ground agents and freight forwarders that are “successfully registered” and were granted a certificate of exemption by the head of the Trade and Industry Department, Hong Kong said. The list, unchanged from last year (see 2001020011), includes UPS, FedEx, DHL Aviation and Japan Airlines.

China revised its import and export declaration procedures for equipment and goods used to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, including vaccines and testing kits, a Dec. 30 notice said, according to an unofficial translation. The notice includes product and commodity codes that must be included in certain declarations. The notice took effect Jan. 1.

China’s customs authority clarified certain regulations and procedures for supervising “small” ships registered for carrying goods traveling between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macau, a Dec. 30 notice said, according to an unofficial translation. The notice includes details about China’s “midway supervision” stations for traveling boats and clarified that the boats will be subject to regular import procedures if they are carrying certain items.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control accepted a settlement from a French bank of than $8.5 million for apparent violations U.S. sanctions against Syria, OFAC said in a Jan. 4 notice. Union de Banques Arabes et Françaises (UBAF) operated U.S. dollar accounts for Syrian financial institutions and “indirectly conducted USD business” for those accounts on behalf of the institutions through the U.S. financial system, OFAC said. UBAF agreed to remit $8,572,500 to settle its potential civil liability for 127 “apparent violations.”

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., introduced a resolution Jan. 1 that would block a U.S. military sale to Saudi Arabia. The resolution would prohibit the sale of 7,500 “additional full-up-rounds of Paveway IV Weapon Systems” to Saudi Arabia, which was notified to Congress Dec. 22, according to the resolution. The resolution was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The Senate last month voted to reject bipartisan resolutions to block U.S. arms sales to the United Arab Emirates (see 2012100011).

China issued guidance on its free trade deal with Mauritius (see 2012180017), which took effect Jan. 1 and is expected to eliminate tariffs on more than 90% of goods traded between the two countries, China said. The agreement will “play an active role” in improving cooperation between China and Africa, and Chinese companies will “gain more advantages” when entering the African market, according to an unofficial translation of the guidance.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control Dec. 31 released its annual terrorist assets report for 2019. The report includes an overview of OFAC terrorism sanctions, their impact, enforcement measures and a summary of blocked assets.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control Jan. 4 issued a revised general license that continues to authorize certain transactions (see 1908060048) with Venezuela's “Interim President” Juan Guaido, his staff and others operating under his government. OFAC also amended frequently asked question 679, which outlines the people and entities covered by general license No. 31A.