Drawback

China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) issued notices announcing changes to its outward processing program and simplified entry and exit for certain goods in its comprehensive bonded zones, according to KPMG’s monthly China customs update. The agency also announced the expansion of a pilot program for TIR carnets, and Shanghai customs announced that export declarations will now be accepted as part of a pilot for advance declaration and expedited processing. Highlights are as follows:

In the April 23 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

Russia is putting in place additional sanctions against Ukraine, including new bans on imports and exports between the two countries, according to a blog post from Baker McKenzie. Effective April 18, Russia is adding to the list of goods that cannot be imported into Russia from the Ukraine tariff headings and subheadings covering paper products, apparel and footwear, metal products and machinery, among other things, according to an unofficial translation of the Russian government’s notice. Russia is also immediately adding tariff provisions covering certain oil and petroleum products and chemicals to the list of goods prohibited for export to the Ukraine. Effective June 1, Russia also is adding goods to a list of products that cannot be exported from Russia to Ukraine without a permit, including coal and more petroleum products.

The Trump administration's decision to end exemptions for Iranian oil sanctions will have a “more tangible impact on business” than many of the administration's previous sanctions designations against Iran, according to Johann Strauss, an international trade lawyer at Akin Gump. The move, announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on April 22, was aimed at choking off Iran’s oil exports and came about a week after the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced it was designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (see 1904220021).

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 15-19 in case they were missed.

A New Jersey defense contractor pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the Department of Justice said in a news release. Oben Cabalceta owned two New Jersey companies, Owen's Fasteners Inc. and United Manufacturer LLC. Cabalceta admitted to defrauding the Department of Defense by "providing military equipment parts that were not what he had contracted to provide and illegally accessing technical information because he was not a United States citizen," the DOJ said.

The Trump administration's proposal to transfer firearms-related export controls from the State Department to Commerce would cause significant harm to global security and would loosen necessary controls over dangerous weapons, according to a panel organized by Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif. Speaking at a House office building on April 23, gun-control experts and advocates attempted to debunk the administration's rationalization for transferring authority for gun export controls. Several pointed to the dangers of increased weapons exporting, saying the U.S. could become complicit in killings around the world. Others pointed to lapses in regulations if the changes take effect.

Vietnam is adding more agricultural import procedures to its National Single Window, in pursuit of the country’s goal to complete its electronic filing system in 2019, according to a report from the General Department of Vietnam Customs’ mouthpiece CustomsNews. The newly available Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development functionalities include granting import permits for plant protection drugs, as well as import and export permits for plant genetic resources. The new additions bring the agriculture ministry up to 18 out of 35 of its procedures now available in the single window. A major initiative that remains to be completed is programming for quarantine and quality control for food, animal feed materials and aquatic products with animal and plant origins, the report said.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is asking House colleagues to become original co-sponsors of the Brunei Sanctions Act by April 29, in an April 20 letter. The bill, which would sanction certain government officials in Brunei, would make use of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Omar's letter said the U.S. “has a duty to call out the blatant disregard for humanity and the violation of basic rights wherever we see them,” and this month “the Sultanate of Brunei instituted a brutal and draconian new Penal Code that would strip away the human rights of its citizens and strengthen the government’s authoritarian grip.” The laws mandate the death penalty for various offenses, including “adultery, consensual same-sex relations, blasphemy, and robbery,” she said. The code also permits “flogging” women who have abortions and amputations for those accused of theft, among other punishments, she said. The potential U.S. sanctions would be applied to any official “who implements this draconian penal code,” Omar said, to ensure they cannot travel to or do business with the U.S.

The Trump administration will no longer grant exemptions for Iranian oil sanctions, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters April 22, a move aimed at sharply reducing Iran’s oil exports and tightening pressure on the country to comply with U.S. demands. The current set of exemption waivers expire in early May, the White House said in a statement.