Hong Kong’s Trade and Industry Department reminded entities involved in the trade of certain chemicals of upcoming deadlines to apply for licenses and report certain activities. Entities and facilities that trade in chemicals controlled by the Chemical Weapons Convention must submit “permit applications” for 2021 by Nov. 30 and report by Dec. 21 “whether they were engaged in the specified activities,” the agency said in a Nov. 6 notice. Information on the permit and reporting requirements for scheduled chemicals is included in the notice.
China will impose antidumping duties on imports of certain m-cresol from the U.S., Japan and the European Union, China’s Commerce Ministry said in a Nov. 6 notice, according to an unofficial translation. The duties, ranging from 27.9% to 131.7%, will apply to imports starting Nov. 6.
The State Department approved a potential military sale to Canada worth about $500 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Nov. 5. The sale includes “Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) Block IIIC missiles” and related equipment. The principal contractor will be Raytheon Missiles and Defense.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a member of Lebanon’s Parliament for corruption, the agency said Nov. 6. The designation targets Gibran Bassil, president of the Free Patriotic Movement political party. OFAC said Bassil has held several “high-level” positions in the Lebanese government and has been “marked by significant allegations of corruption.”
The European Union renewed its sanctions regime against Turkey’s illegal drilling activities in the Mediterranean for one year, a Nov. 6 notice said. The regime, extended until Nov. 12, 2021, currently targets two people.
The European Union is increasingly losing out in technology competition with the U.S. and China, technology and trade experts said during a Nov. 6 event hosted by Chatham House. While they suggested more EU cooperation with the U.S., they also said Europe needs a different approach to technology regulation to keep from falling further behind.
The United Kingdom updated multiple guidance documents for trade with foreign countries after the U.K. leaves the European Union Jan. 1, 2021. The updates, published Nov. 3, provide more information on import tariff rates and rules of origin for more than 20 countries.
Thailand will ban two pesticide residues on imported food products beginning in 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a Nov. 3 report. The move will ban imports of food containing paraquat and chlorpyrifos residues by reducing maximum residue limits to zero, beginning June 1, 2021, FAS said. The ban will likely impact “several” Thai industries that rely on imports of food inputs that may contain residues of those pesticides, the report said, including wheat flour milling, soybean oil processing, and international trading of fruit and vegetable products. The country is almost entirely reliant on imports for its supply of wheat grain, soybeans and soybean meal. FAS said this could lead to disruptions in the supply chains for the industries' customers, including bakery manufacturers, the hotel and hospitality industries, and food processors.
Bangladesh is investigating whether its commercial banks are breaching customs import regulations, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said Oct. 30. The probe stemmed from a Bangladesh customs authority allegation that banks are providing letters of credit to importers that “exceed the annual import cap specified in their import registration certificates.” Those practices “cause problems when it comes to releasing imported items” and leads to a “shortfall in terms of due fees and underpaid” value-added taxes, the HKTDC said.
The U.S. seized 27 domain names registered to the sanctioned Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Justice Department said Nov. 4. The domain names were being used to violate U.S. sanctions against Iran and the IRGC, including by acting as if they were “genuine news outlets” to target U.S. audiences and influence U.S. public opinion, the Justice Department said. The IRGC’s operation of the domains violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Iranian Transactions Sanctions Regulations, which block U.S. people from providing services to the Iranian government without a license. The move follows previous U.S. seizures of domain names operated by the IRGC (see 2010080026).