India is hosting a Regional Contact Points meeting for the World Customs Organization’s Asia Pacific region this week to discuss trade issues, India’s Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs said Nov. 18. The meetings, taking place Nov. 18-20, feature customs delegations from more than 25 countries and will focus on greater communication and technology advancements in customs procedures.
Singapore Customs issued Nov. 18 circulars on how importers and exporters can benefit from preferential treatment under the European Union-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, which will take effect Nov. 21. The exporting guide covers new rules of origin under the EUSFTA, customs documentation procedures and record-keeping requirements. The importing guide covers which goods will be subject to preferential tariff rates and procedures for claiming those tariff rates, as well as customs procedures and record-keeping requirements.
KPMG released an overview of Japan’s tax system on Nov. 15, detailing a range of the country’s laws that affect imports, exports, tariffs and customs. The guide contains details on measures affecting customs clearance, customs valuation, rules of origin, access to import and export data, taxes levied on importers and more.
Thailand’s recent decision to ban three chemicals could lead to a “shutdown” in imports of several products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report released Nov. 18. The chemicals ban, which includes glyphosate, will “definitively” impact U.S agricultural exports to Thailand, especially soybeans, wheat, beans, pulses, fruit, vegetables and other agricultural goods, the report said. The number of crops affected could be as high as 70, based on information about chemical treatments during the production cycle, USDA said.
Singapore Customs opened its new Customs Operations Command building, consolidating the agency’s intelligence, investigation and “compliance related functions” in one building, Singapore said in a Nov. 15 press release. Singapore said the building “provides modern facilities to support our enforcement operations,” including officer training. “This facility enhances the operational capability of Singapore Customs and affirms our commitment to our mission of protecting revenue, and making trade easy, fair and secure,” Director-General of Customs Ho Chee Pong said in a statement.
China announced tariff-rate quotas for fertilizer imports for 2020, according to a Nov. 15 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. China will set its quotas at 3.3 million tons of urea, 6.9 million tons of diamond phosphate and 3.45 million tons of compound fertilizers. The TRQ will be 1 percent for all three items, HKTDC said. Chinese authorities will accept applications and issue certificates for the quotas starting Dec. 15.
China criticized a Nov. 14 U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission report that called for more export controls against China and more support for Taiwan, saying the commission’s report is inaccurate. “The committee you mentioned is deeply entrenched in prejudice against China. Its reports are rarely based on facts,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Nov. 15. “I have no interest in commenting.” The report also provided details on “harassment” tactics employed by China against U.S. companies, including unannounced site investigations and unwarranted tax investigations (see 1911140050).
China said it opposes sanctions against Iran days after a German official suggested Europe should consider reimposing sanctions against the country for its breaches of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. “It is China's consistent position that wanton use or threat of sanctions is neither constructive nor helpful to solve any problem,” a China Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Nov. 14. “Dialogue and negotiation is the real way out.”
China and Greece will improve ties in an agreement that includes provisions on increased trade and customs facilitation, China’s State Council said Nov. 12. The statement calls for improved “customs trade security and facilitation cooperation,” according to an unofficial translation, and encourages “air transport companies to open more flights between China and Greece.” The two sides will also coordinate on “agricultural policy,” China said, including increased Chinese imports of agricultural goods.
India will import 100,000 tons of onions in an effort to curb rising domestic onion prices, India’s Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said in a Nov. 9 statement on Twitter. The onions will be imported for distribution from Nov. 15 to Dec. 15, according to an unofficial translation of the statement. The move was directly caused by the spike in onion prices, which “have been rising for weeks,” the India Tribune said in a Nov. 7 report. To increase imports, India will relax several measures, including a condition for fumigation and endorsement of the products’ phytosanitary certificate, the report said. The onions will be fumigated in India by the importer “through an accredited treatment provider.”