India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade in a Sept. 6 notice extended until Sept. 30 the final date for which exporters can upload the relevant electronic bank realization certificates (e-BRCs), where Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) scrips were issued for shipping bills up to Dec. 31, 2020. After Sept. 30, no further extension will be granted and jurisdictional regional authorities can take action, DGFT said.

Chinese trade barriers to imported food cause substantial price differences between the amount Chinese buyers pay for those U.S. commodities -- including the standard tariffs -- and the national average cost of those goods, a study from USDA's Economic Research Service estimated.

China hs imposed phytosanitary requirements on imports of fresh citrus from Iran, the General Administration of Customs announced Aug. 31, according to an unofficial translation. China said fresh citrus from Iran must come from approved orchards, packaging plants and quarantine treatment facilities. Along with the requirements, China posted the list of pests of concern, including the orange-yellow whitefly Bemisia giffardi and the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata.

Solaiyappan Ramanathan, a permanent resident of Singapore, was ordered to pay a $558,000 fine by the Singapore State Courts for making false statements when applying for Preferential Certificates of Origin for goods his company exported, Singapore Customs announced Aug. 31. Solaiyappan is the former director of Feccuni Singapore Pte. and sole owner of Shakambri Overseas -- companies set up to import and export scrap metals and other metal products from local and overseas suppliers.

China announced new inspection and quarantine requirements for imports of orange fiber particles and soybean meal from Brazil, the General Administration of Customs announced Aug. 30 in separate notices, according to an unofficial translation. Orange fiber granules refer to the citrus fruits grown in Brazil as raw materials, which are obtained by liming, pressing, drying and granulating the citrus remains after extracting the juice, the notice said.

India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade in an Aug. 30 notice changed its export policy for certain types of drones/UAVs, dropping the requirement that these exports receive authorization under the Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (SCOMET) scheme. The move applies to "Unmanned aerial vehicle systems including drones, remotely piloted air vehicles and autonomous programmable vehicles, not specified under SCOMET Categories/sub-categories 3D013, 5B(a) & (b), 6A010, 8A912, and capable of range equal to or less than 5 km and delivering a payload of not more than 5 kgs (excluding the software and technology of these items)."

China suspended imports of some meat products from Tyson Foods, the General Administration of Customs announced in an Aug. 29 news release, according to an unofficial translation. The suspension applies to goods from a plant owned by Tyson Fresh Meats, the beef and pork subsidiary of the meat processing giant, after some of the company's pig trotters failed inspection. The plant is based in Logansport, Indiana. The suspension shouldn't affect meat trade between the U.S. and China too much because all the plants are eligible to export to China, but it comes at a time when Chinese buyers are looking to buy more pork overseas, said Pan Chenjun, senior analyst at Rabobank, Yahoo Finance reported.

Vietnam has collected over $22,000 in fines and taxes from a company following an inspection of five shipments of supplemental foods, the state-run CustomsNews reported Aug. 28. The company, V.D.P Co., registered to import five shipments at the Sai Gon Seaport Customs Branch. Following a post-clearance audit, the customs branch found the company falsely declared the Harmonized System code of the goods. Vietnam Customs said that the company had to pay an extra $19,000 in duties and $3,800 in fines.

Singapore Customs arrested a man and seized 261 cartons of cigarettes for which duties were not paid, the agency said in an Aug. 26 release. The customs agency spotted the man in a car that had brown boxes in the passenger compartment. Officers found 258 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes, placing the man under arrest. After a follow-up search of the man's residence, Singapore Customs found another three cartons of cigarettes and 10 empty computer casings that were used as cover loads for the cigarettes. The man allegedly evaded $22,280 in duties and $1,770 in goods and services tax, Singapore Customs said. "Court proceedings are ongoing," the release said.

India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade, in an Aug. 27 move, restricted the trade of "Wheat or Meslin Flour (Atta), Maida, Samolina (Rava/Sirgi), Wholemeal atta and resultant atta." The existing policy allowed the export of the subject goods, though their export was subject to the recommendation of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (see 2208090033). Under the new policy, exports of wheat will be barred, with permission given by India's government to other countries to meet their food security needs and based on the request of their government. The DGFT also said wheat or meslin flour is no longer exempted from export restrictions and bans (see 2205200020).