Chinese meat importers are concerned about customs delays after Beijing’s main port announced mandatory coronavirus tests for all incoming containers, Reuters reported June 17. The Tianjin port began testing batches for every arriving container this week, including all meat and seafood imports, the report said. Importers are worried the increased tests will lead to a backlog and fear other Chinese ports might adopt the measure as the country begins to see a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, the report said.

Singapore Customs’ TradeNet will undergo system maintenance June 28 4 a.m. to noon local time, a June 16 notice said. The agency is advising users to avoid submitting applications during this time. This is in addition to usual maintenance on Sundays 4-8 a.m.

Cambodia will soon require all food labels and packaging to be translated into the country’s Khmer language, a June 12 KPMG post said. The measure, effective July 1, will apply to all companies and factories handling food packaging or labels.

India is restricting a range of tire imports, the country’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a June 12 notice. The restrictions apply to imports of certain tires for cars, lorries, motorcycles and bicycles. The listed imports had been designated with an import policy of "free."

China’s General Administration of Customs issued new measures for export supervision of certain e-commerce transactions, according to an unofficial translation of a June 12 notice. The measures outline what types of procedures are subject to customs supervision, registration and record requirements for traders, customs clearance processes and more. The measures take effect July 1.

Sri Lanka revised a range of import duties and updated a duty that affects U.S. fruit exports, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report released June 10. While the changes “mainly affect U.S. fruit exports” through an increased “special commodity levy,” other U.S. agricultural goods also are affected, including categories of dried and shelled peas, chickpeas, yogurt and maize, USDA said. The information was retrieved from a Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka website notification, USDA said, and not independently verified. The notice became effective May 22 for six months.

India amended certain items under its export and import policy for Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies, a June 11 notice said. India published the updated list June 6. The changes affect a range of chemicals, valves, components, fermenters, missile system components, and other materials and substances, the notice said.

China will require increased customs checks for containers, goods and other imports from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to limit the spread of a new Ebola outbreak, a June 10 notice said, according to an unofficial translation. China said it will impose health and quarantine checks for cars, containers, goods, luggage, mail, couriers and other items imported from the DRC, due to a new outbreak of the virus in Mbandaka. It also will apply increased restrictions on people entering China from the DRC. The measures will remain in place for six months, effective June 10, the notice said.

China has increased customs checks on coal imports, leading to lengthy delays at ports, a June 11 Reuters report said. China has introduced import quotas and slowed shipments through quality restrictions on “downstream users, such as utilities,” the report said, resulting in lengthier clearance times. Coal imports now may take up to 90 days to clear customs, instead of the customary 30 days, it said. The restrictions may be a measure by China to support domestic coal mining, the report said.

State-controlled and private Chinese buyers continue to purchase U.S. soybeans, despite growing tensions between the two countries (see 2005290047), Bloomberg reported June 10. Chinese companies purchased at least 10 cargoes of soybeans this month, Bloomberg said, which came after earlier reports that China was halting certain agricultural imports from the U.S., including soybeans, pork, corn and cotton (see 2006010044).