Canada recently updated its import attestation form for incoming shipments of romaine lettuce from California, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report released Oct. 28. Importer Attestation Form 5961 is required for shipments from California's Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito and Monterey counties, USDA said. The updated form reimposed certain additional import requirements for romaine lettuce and attests that sampling was conducted under Canada’s temporary Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) licensing conditions.

Quebec recently introduced legislation that could remove certain labeling and registration requirements for “upholstered and stuffed articles” sold in the province, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Oct. 22. Quebec, which is the only Canadian province that imposes the specific requirements, would continue to impose other “applicable federal requirements” on labeling if the legislation is passed. Ontario and Manitoba removed similar requirements in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Quebec requires that labels and inscriptions on all goods appear in French. The French language requirement would remain intact as well on upholstered and stuffed goods.

CBP will end its temporary travel restrictions on the northern and southern borders as of Oct. 22 for travelers who have received the full COVID-19 vaccine treatment, CBP said in a pair of notices. The restrictions will continue to limit border crossing by unvaccinated people through Jan. 21, 2022, it said. The travel restrictions don't apply to cargo operations and exempt crossing the border from Canada or Mexico to work in the U.S.

Mexico this month announced a new temporary tariff rate quota for soybean imports for all trading partners, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said Oct. 19. The TRQ, which will remain in force through Dec. 31, is for 500,000 metric tons of soybeans imported under Harmonized System code 12019002 with zero import duty, USDA said. Mexican officials will assign the TRQ “by direct allocation on a first-come, first-served basis.”

Brazil added 333 items to its list of foreign capital goods and information technology and telecommunications goods subject to duty-free treatment under its Ex-Tarifario regime, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Oct. 7. The 311 added capital goods are classified in Harmonized System chapters 84, 85 and 90, while the 22 added IT and telecom goods are classified in chapters 84 and 85. Duty-free treatment lasts through Dec. 31. Brazil also removed 19 items from the list, HKTDC said.

A new U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report outlines Canada’s new and continued 2021 import requirements for U.S. romaine lettuce. The Sept. 27 report details information required with all imports, including the proof of origin, sampling information and testing information. Among the new requirements is a preharvest testing option for the imports, which stipulates that samples must be taken no more than seven days before harvest, and other conditions. The additional import requirements will be in effect from Sept. 30 until Dec. 31, 2021.

The domestic textile industry, which employs about a half million people and a million less than 25 years ago, was the focus of U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai's trip this week to factories in the Carolinas. Tai met with textile executives and leaders in the National Council of Textile Organizations trade group, and, according to a summary of the Sept. 23 meeting, she said the administration wants to increase trade between the U.S. and El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. One of the factories was a thread factory -- in the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, unlike in NAFTA, thread must be from either the U.S. or one of the CAFTA-DR countries.

Mexico recently updated its energy efficiency requirements for residential and commercial water heaters, including their product classification and labeling for import purposes, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Sept. 23. The new requirements, which exclude certain water heaters with certain thermal loads, working pressures, water temperatures and more, take effect March 14, 2022. Water heaters manufactured according to the previous standard “may be commercialized” in Mexico if they were made or imported before the effective date and include a “valid certificate of compliance.”

Argentina and Peru recently made antidumping duty decisions on products from China, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Sept. 24.

Argentina recently updated its import restrictions on elemental mercury and mercury‑added products, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Sept. 24. The country’s new regulations prohibit imports of various mercury-added products, including certain batteries, switches and relays, fluorescent lamps, pesticides, cosmetics and non-electronic measuring devices, HKTDC said. Certain products are exempted from the import prohibition, including “essential products” for military uses and research or instrument calibration.