United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Oct. 2 released details of his proposal for customs procedures involving Northern Ireland after Brexit (see 1910010070). The proposal seeks to replace the “Irish backstop,” a key hurdle to passage of a transition deal in the U.K. Parliament. The proposed framework would effectively keep Northern Ireland within the EU’s regulatory framework for at least four years after the end of a transition period in 2020, giving the Northern Ireland parliament the ability to exit the proposed framework.
Brian Feito
Brian Feito, Managing Editor, International Trade Today, Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. A licensed customs broker who spent time at the Department of Commerce calculating antidumping and countervailing duties, Brian covers a wide range of subjects including customs and trade-facing product regulation, the courts, antidumping and countervailing duties and Mexico and the European Union. Brian is a graduate of the University of Florida and George Mason University. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2012.
The European Union is making adjustments to its safeguards on steel products implemented in July 2018 in response to U.S. Section 232 tariffs, the European Commission said in a Sept. 27 press release.
Several issues related to detention and demurrage remain to be addressed as the Federal Maritime Commission moves forward with its recent proposed rule on detention and demurrage practices, said Richard Roche of Mohawk Global Logistics, at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America’s government affairs conference Sept. 23 in Washington. Key among these are notices of availability for cargo and charges for customs holds, he said.
Vietnam continues efforts to crack down on the country of origin fraud and transshipment schemes that have become especially more frequent since the ramping up of U.S.-China trade tensions, according to reports in CustomsNews, the self-described “mouthpiece” of Vietnam Customs.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species recently adopted widespread changes to international restrictions on trade in plants and wildlife at its triennial Conference of the Parties held Aug. 17-28 in Geneva. Among those changes are an expanded exemption from permit requirements for finished goods, including instruments, made from certain species of rosewood that will take effect sometime in November.
A federal court in Philadelphia sentenced an exporter of protected wildlife to six months in prison for smuggling terrapins to Canada in violation of the Lacey Act, the Justice Department said in an Aug. 29 press release. David Sommers of Levittown, Pennsylvania, had pleaded guilty in February to Lacey Act false labeling violations related to the misdeclaration of diamondback terrapins on a commercial invoice and international air waybill he submitted to a carrier for a shipment to Canada.
The European Union’s new EU Customs Trader Portal will debut on Oct. 1, and will for a time run parallel to the current EU Trader Portal before replacing the legacy system entirely, the Netherlands Tax and Customs Administration said in an Aug. 20 news release. Developed by the European Commission, the new portal will allow traders to apply for and manage Authorized Economic Operator certificates and Binding Tariff Information decisions. “If your organisation already has an AEO certificate or BTI, you will soon receive a notification from Customs,” Dutch Customs said.
Border clearance for trucks crossing the Straits of Dover from the United Kingdom to France may slow to 40 percent to 60 percent of the current flow within one day of a no-deal Brexit, according to a leaked U.K. government memo published by The Times of London on Aug. 18. And “significant disruption” at the French border may last up to six months after the U.K. leaves the EU with no transition deal, the report said.
President Donald Trump on July 26 directed the U.S. trade representative to seek changes at the World Trade Organization that would prevent rich countries from claiming benefits reserved for developing countries in WTO agreements.
The EU is creating a new, streamlined declaration type for low value imports worth less than €120, it said in a notice published in the July 5 Official Journal. The new customs declaration type contains fewer data elements than standard customs declarations, but still includes information on value-added tax as a result of the upcoming assessment of value-added tax on low-value imports. The new declaration type must be implemented by the time the VAT exemption for low-value gods is eliminated on Jan. 1, 2021, the notice said.