China is adopting new measures to revise the rules of origin guidelines in its agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China’s General Administration of Customs said in an Aug. 20 notice, according to an unofficial translation. The changes, which took effect Aug. 20, will help China “correctly determine the origin of import and export goods” under the agreement and “promote economic and trade exchanges between” China and ASEAN member countries. China said its customs agencies began accepting certificates of origin issued by ASEAN member countries on Aug. 1.
Country of origin cases
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Aug. 19 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
Gibraltar's recent release of an Iranian oil tanker that had been seized by British authorities in July for potential sanctions violations came despite requests from the U.S. to continue to detain the ship, according to a statement released Aug. 18 by the United Kingdom territory.
Gibraltar released an Iranian tanker it had seized for possible violations of European Union sanctions, rejecting requests from the U.S. to continue detaining the ship.
A Japanese newspaper said that Japan and the U.S. have begun working on text for a free trade agreement. "The points of contention have become very clear and discussions have been progressing,” said Kazuhisa Shibuya, a senior policy coordinator at Japan’s Cabinet Secretariat, at a news conference following the talks, a report in The Japan Times said. He also said the two sides are talking about rules of origin, which suggests that the U.S. is entertaining tariff elimination on at least some industrial products, not just rescinding the automobile Section 232 threat in return for agricultural market access.
China’s expansion of its Shanghai Free Trade Zone could serve as a model for similar schemes in other zones across the country if it is successful, according to an Aug. 13 post from Dezan Shira & Associates. The recently approved plan includes "pioneering" policies in the newly incorporated Lingang area that are more than just a “simple expansion,” the post said. The expansion will double the size of the original Shanghai zone and will “facilitate freer activities in trade, investment, finance, talents, and information” in the new area of the zone, according to the post.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 5-9 in case they were missed.
In the Aug. 13 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security made several changes to its Entity List, adding, removing and modifying entries for companies in China, Canada, Malaysia, Russia, The United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and more. The changes add 17 entities to the list, modify 23 existing entries for China, Hong Kong and Russia, and remove three entities located in China and the UAE, BIS said in a notice. The changes take effect Aug. 14.
In the Aug. 9-12 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted: