The head of the agriculture committee for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union initiated a review earlier this year of how Canada is running its tariff rate quota system for imported cheeses, according to a report in the National Post in Canada.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of July 19 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Canada is strengthening its antidumping regime “to better protect Canadian industry from unfair trade practices,” including making changes to its investigative and review procedures, the Canada Border Services Agency said in a July 19 press release. The changes update Canada’s criteria for beginning an investigation and detail “specific factors” for determining when CBSA should “initiate a full re-investigation or a more streamlined normal value review,” the release said.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of July 17 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Costa Rica issued a three-month moratorium on paying penalties related to value-added taxes, KPMG said in a July 11 post and report. The moratorium, issued in the country’s Official Gazette on July 10, applies to “penalties, interest, fines” and other “sanctions” in the country’s Code of Norms and Tax Procedures, KPMG said, but excludes “large taxpayers.” The moratorium does not exempt taxpayers from “submitting the tax returns, the tax payment, or the payment of the principal amount adjusted by the Tax Administration,” KPMG said.

Costa Rica’s General Tax Administration published a resolution clarifying which export-related services are exempt from value-added taxes, according to a July 5 post and report from KPMG. The recently published resolution said “port and airport services,” including transportation services for “goods destined for export to ports, airports and land borders” are part of the “exempt operations related to exports,” KPMG said.

There's a high volume of transaction numbers with an overdue status, the Canada Border Services Agency said in a July 15 email. "This indicates that some clients with release prior to payment privileges have submitted an interim accounting to obtain release of their goods but have not submitted the final accounting B3 nor submitted payment to CBSA," it said. Importers are responsible to ensure the final accounting documentation is provided, CBSA said. "Importers that do not account for overdue releases are deemed non-compliant and will be assessed duties, taxes, interest and penalties, and may also be subject to exam and/or verification," it said.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of July 12 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Legislation aimed an increasing Canada's ability to use safeguard measures to limit import surges "recently cleared the House of Commons and the Senate, and received Royal Assent," said Daniel Kiselbach, a lawyer at Miller Thomson, in a blog post. "The provisions in the enactment lift a two-year moratorium on the imposition of safeguard measures on imports that have previously been subject to safeguard measures," he said. Part of a recent agreement between the U.S. and Canada that led to to lifting of tariffs on steel and aluminum was that the countries may impose tariffs in response to import surges of the metals (see 1905170031).

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of July 10 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):