Although the International Chamber of Commerce’s 2020 incoterms did not make the significant revisions that industries expected, it did introduce several changes that may require updated contacts between importers and exporters.
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
In the Oct. 11-16 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The U.K.’s HM Revenue & Customs recently published a list of customs agents and fast parcel operators that can help importers and exporters submit customs declarations in the event of a no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31. Customs agents can also be searched for on the British International Freight Association website, HMRC said.
Nearly 100,000 companies in the United Kingdom have now been automatically registered to use that country’s Transitional Simplified Procedures if there’s a no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31, U.K. HM Revenue & Customs said in a press release. TSP simplifies procedures importing, and make it especially easier for companies completing customs procedures for the first time, but up to now only about 30,000 had applied. Among the benefits of TSP are a six-month period to submit customs declarations and pay customs duties after importing goods from the European Union. “This will prevent congestion at the border when goods enter” the U.K., HMRC said.
The United Kingdom won’t issue any more export licenses on goods destined for Turkey that "might be used in military operations in Syria," U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Parliament on Oct. 15. The policy will remain in place while it conducts a review of the U.K.’s defense exports to Turkey, he said. Raab, who noted that the EU has declined to impose sanctions on Turkey, was answering questions on the U.K.’s policies toward Turkey in light of the country’s military action in northern Syria.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Oct. 16 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
Brazil modified the administrative structure of the Ministry of Economy’s Foreign Trade Chamber to prioritize trade policy and “de-bureaucratise day-to-day decisions with an impact on trade,” the Hong Kong Trade Development Center said in an Oct. 14 report. Among the changes is the addition of a “consultative council” representing Brazil’s private sector, the report said. The changes could lead to an effort “to pursue trade liberalising measures in Brazil” because of the ministry’s tendency toward market liberalization measures, HKTDC said. But there is also a belief that the creation of additional committees within the chamber “could slow down the overall decision-making process.”
The Treasury Department recently posted a summary of public briefings in September by officials on proposed regulations under the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (see 1909180018).
A Turkish government-owned bank was charged with fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after working with Iran to evade U.S. sanctions, the Justice Department said in an Oct. 15 press release. The bank -- Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S., also known as Halkbank -- helped run the “multibillion-dollar scheme” by deceiving U.S. regulators and foreign banks and lying to U.S. authorities, the press release said.