China blocked imports of food entries from Taiwan ahead of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island nation, suspending biscuits, pastries and bread imports from 35 Taiwanese exporters, Reuters reported Aug. 2. Among the 3,200 Taiwanese companies registered with China's General Administration of Customs under the food category, 2,066 of their entries had been suspended.
Vietnam halved the port infrastructure fees for imported and exported goods shipped via inland waterways to and from Ho Chi Minh City starting Aug. 1, the state-run CustomsNews e-magazine reported. The 50% fee cut is applied to goods for temporary import and reexport or deposited in bonded warehouses and for transit and transshipment of goods, placing the fee at $2.20 per tonne for liquid and bulk cargo, $94.50 for a 20-foot container and $189 for a 40-foot container. Certain goods are exempted from the fees, including those meant for national security.
Singapore Customs brought its Strategic Goods Control List up to date with the Wassenaar Arrangement's Munitions List and the 2021 EU's List of Dual-Use Items, with the changes coming into effect Oct. 1, the agency announced Aug. 1. The EUDL lays out items controlled by the four multilateral export control regimes: the Australia Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement. The update includes new controls and editorial changes for "consistency and clarity" of the controls, the notice said. The amendment to Strategic Goods (Control) Regulations' fourth and fifth schedules includes new items and is also effective Oct. 1.
India extended until March 31, 2023, the date for the mandatory electronic filing of Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin (NP CoO) forms through the Common Digital Platform, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade announced Aug. 1. Until that deadline, exporters and NP CoO-issuing agencies have the option of using hard copy or the online system.
India changed the import policy for malonylurea (barbituric acid) in an Aug. 1 notice, no longer requiring a "No Objection Certificate" from the narcotics commissioner in Gwalior, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade announced. The change applies to "Compounds containing a pyrimidine ring (whether or not hydrogenated) or piperazine ring in the structure : -- Malonylurea (Varbituric Acid) and its salts."
Exports of crude oil out of Saudi Arabia jumped to their highest level since April 2020, with observed seaborne shipments rising to around 7.5 million barrels a day in July, Bloomberg reported Aug. 1. In June, the mark was 6.6 million barrels a day. The bump comes from international pressure to curb high oil prices. China has been the main destination for the Saudi oil, with exports totaling 1.65 million barrels a day in July. India was target no. 2, with over 1 million barrels a day heading to the subcontinent. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies have gradually boosted production for the past year, moving away from limits put in place early in the COVID-19 pandemic. The group's Aug. 3 meeting agenda includes future production policy.
Nepal recently extended an import ban on certain luxury items and toys, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported July 29. The ban will prohibit imports of various toys, snacks, cards, diamonds, liquor, tobacco, vehicles and 32-inch televisions, the report said. Also banned are mobile phones worth more than $300 and certain motorcycles. The ban was extended through the end of August.
Stellantis, an auto-making giant and owner of the Jeep brand, closed down its only Jeep factory in China because of local political interference in the car market, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares told Bloomberg July 28. The company is rolling out an "asset-light" strategy in a bid to appease concerns that political tensions could result in sanctions on the carmaker. “We have been seeing over the last few years more and more political interference in the world of business in China,” Tavares said. “We don’t want to be a victim of cross-sanctions as has been the case for other companies in other regions of the world recently.”
India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade on July 27 suspended eight standard input output norms (SIONs) appearing under four serial numbers. Those SIONs are for C594, carbon/ alloy steel seamless tubes (cold finished); C791, seamless stainless steel tubes (cold finished); C792, seamless stainless steel tubes (cold finished) (stainless steel grade-304/304L/321); C793, seamless stainless steel tubes (cold finished) (stainless steel grade-316/316L/316TI); C794, seamless stainless steel tubes/pipes (hot finished); C795, seamless stainless steel tubes (hot finished) (stainless steel grade-304/304L/321); C796, seamless stainless steel tubes (hot finished) (stainless steel grade-316/316L/316TI); and C831, stainless steel seamless tubes/pipes (cold finish).
India provided guidance on its recent decisions to change its import policy for items of copper and aluminum from "Free" to "Free subject to compulsory registration under Non-Ferrous Metal Import Monitoring System." The Directorate General for Foreign Trade clarified several items, including that NFMIMS won't be applicable on air-freighted goods and that multiple assignments against a NFMIMS registration can be imported within the validity of the NFMIMS registrations.