Canada's import controls apply to all milk protein substances (MPS) with a milk protein content of 85% or more of dry matter weight if the imports don't qualify for a trade, Global Affairs Canada said in an Aug. 28 message to industry. "If a product does not qualify as originating under the concerned trade agreement, or if transhipment requirements are not satisfied, an import permit is required," the agency said. MPS imports from a NAFTA country, an EU country or other EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement beneficiary, Chile, Costa Rica or Israel "are exempted from Canada's import permit requirements for MPS," GAC said.
Country of origin cases
In the Aug. 27 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
Some fruits and vegetables could face new restrictions on importation into the European Union beginning Sept. 1, according to blog post by Canadian law firm Tereposky & DeRose. That’s the date an EU regulation issued in March takes effect, setting new import requirements for some fruits and vegetables, including exporting country certification, many of which have not yet been met, the law firm said.
In the Aug. 26 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The Eurasian Economic Union Commission completed its customs code harmonization to improve customs clearance time, “service portals,” rules relating to restricted goods, countries of origin and more, according to an Aug. 22 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The move is expected to “clear up the discrepancies and inconsistencies” related to several areas of customs and trade between the Eurasian Economic Union’s member countries: Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The move will standardize the average customs clearance time to four hours, define required procedures for establishing exact customs values, list a series of banned goods and more, the report said.
China is renewing a customs agreement that allows Hong Kong traders to transship cargo from Hong Kong to mainland China under reduced tariffs, according to an Aug. 21 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The agreement allows for reduced tariffs for cargo from China’s list of “Least Developed Countries,” which includes mainly African nations, including Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda and more, the report said. The agreement allows Hong Kong traders to apply for “Certificates of Non-manipulation,” which make cargo eligible for “preferential tariffs,” the HKTDC said. The agreement was originally set to end on Aug. 1.
Canada updated its regulations under the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (CIFTA) for rules of origin for casual goods, the country said in an Aug. 21 Canada Gazette notice. The updated regulations "implement, in Canada, the rules of origin negotiated by Canada and Israel in the modernized CIFTA that will be used to determine when goods have undergone sufficient production to qualify for preferential tariff treatment," said Canada in another notice. "The rules of origin in the modernized CIFTA were simplified, liberalized, and brought up to date with Canada’s approach in more recent free trade agreements." The CIFTA tariff preference regulations were also updated.
Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security issued a guidance on Aug. 20 about the disclosure of technology or software subject to export controls “between and among members of standards setting or development groups or bodies.” BIS said it issued the guidance after receiving “a number of questions” about the temporary general license for Huawei and the Chinese company’s addition to the Entity List. The guidance tries to clarify which activities are prohibited among standards organizations when discussing Huawei and its Entity Listing.
In the Aug. 20 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
Vietnam issued a circular to update the rules of origin regulations under the recent agreement between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China, Vietnam Customs' mouthpiece CustomsNews said in an Aug. 20 report. Vietnam clarified how rules of origin apply to goods, “origin criteria for converting commodity codes at level of 4 digits” and regulations on the de minimis level. The circular will take effect Sept. 12.