Importers in Myanmar will be able to temporarily receive online customs clearance for their goods on a “national basis,” according to a May 5 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Previously, importers could only secure customs clearance at “specified customs entry points” in the country’s capital of Yangon. The expanded use of the Myanmar Automated Cargo Clearance System will allow importers to claim import duty benefits under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Trade in Goods Agreement through May 31, the report said. The temporary basis is in support of businesses during the COVID-19 outbreak.

China will eliminate “purchase tax” on “new energy vehicles” from Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2022, China’s Ministry of Finance said in an April 22 notice, according to an unofficial translation. The measure will exempt taxes for imports of electric cars, plug-in hybrid cars and “fuel cell vehicles” when imported by Chinese car manufacturers and dealers, the notice said.

China recently requested industry and government feedback as it prepares to revise its measures on organic product certification, which could impact the types of organic goods China can import, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report released April 30. The request for pre-draft revisions comments is “unique,” the USDA said, adding that China is asking for comments through a “written questionnaire” because it cannot conduct field visits due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The comment deadline is May 11. China did not notify the World Trade Organization about previous revisions to its organic product certification rules last year, the USDA said.

Japan’s recent agricultural aid package includes incentive payments for dairy manufacturers to replace imported ingredients with domestic milk powder, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report released April 30. The aid, which aims to help industry mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, will issue payments for dairy companies that replace imports of “prepared dairy products” with the domestically produced powder. The payments, distributed by Japan’s Agriculture and Livestock Industries Corporation, will include the “price difference between milk powder for food use and these products, up to a specified limit,” the USDA said. Japan imported $2.2 million worth of those prepared dairy products annually from the U.S. between 2015 and 2019, the USDA said.

Sri Lanka recently announced a “special commodity levy” on imported fruits, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report released April 30. The levy, which began April 17, will remain in place for two months. It is intended to help the country rebound from a lockdown associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. About a quarter of Sri Lanka’s annual $71 million worth of fruit imports originates in China, with 8% coming from the U.S. The country sources about 20% of its apples from the U.S., the USDA said.

China’s Commerce Ministry criticized the U.S. Commerce Department’s decision to increase restrictions on exports to Chinese military users, saying it will “damage the interests of related U.S. companies more.” The measures, introduced last week (see 2004280052), were examples of the U.S. “abusing export control measures and impeding normal trade and cooperation among trading partners,” a ministry spokesperson said during an April 30 press conference, according to an unofficial translation of a transcript of the event. China said governments have a “responsibility” to reduce trade barriers during the COVID-19 pandemic “rather than create obstacles,” adding that “it is hoped that the U.S. side will stop wrong practices.”

Certain Vietnamese companies exporting to the European Union, Switzerland or Norway under the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program have until June 30 to obtain authorization from Vietnam’s commerce and industry authority, according to an April 29 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Vietnamese companies exporting goods valued at more than $6,500 must obtain an EU Registered Exporter number, the report said, but lesser-value exporters will be allowed to “self-issue” their certificates of origin without a registered exporter number.

China adopted new cybersecurity review measures that may impact purchases of foreign technology, according to an unofficial translation of an April 27 notice from China’s Cyberspace Administration. The rules, which will take effect June 1, require certain “critical information infrastructure operators” to undergo a review when importing goods that may impact China’s national security, the notice said. That review includes the submission of a “declaration form,” an “analysis report” on the impact of the purchase on China’s national security, procurement documents and “other materials,” China said. The review will “generally” be completed in 45 days. The rules could place foreign technology products at a “disadvantage” in the Chinese market, according to an April 27 report in The Wall Street Journal. Industry is also worried the review procedure could justify excluding U.S. businesses from Chinese supply chains, the report said.

China announced it will temporarily waive interest on deferred payments for “processing trade goods sold domestically” between April 15 and Dec. 31, according to an April 27 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The measure is aimed at supporting the “development of processing trade” and to ease pressure on foreign trading.

China announced requirements for importing U.S. avocados, according to an unofficial translation of an April 26 notice from the country’s General Administration of Customs. The notice contains new phytosanitary requirements for the imports, which took effect April 26.