Various promotional items imported by Bic Graphic that are labeled in the U.S. before export to NAFTA countries are considered as in the "same condition” for purposes of the NAFTA limitation on drawback, CBP said in an Aug. 12 ruling. CBP said in HQ H292472 the multiple labeling methods involved don't result in a change in condition and also may still be considered "unused." Mallory Alexander International Logistics requested the ruling on behalf of Bic Graphic.
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on a shipping network that moves hundreds of millions of dollars of oil for Iran, Treasury said in a Sept. 4 press release. The network includes dozens of ship managers, ships and “facilitators” overseen by Rostam Qasemi, a senior Iranian military official and the country’s former minister of petroleum. The sanctions target 16 entities, 10 people and 11 ships.
A Turkish businessman was sentenced to just more than two years in prison following his conviction for conspiring to illegally export marine equipment from the U.S. to Iran, the Justice Department said in a Sept. 3 press release. Resit Tavan, owner of Istanbul-based Ramor Dis Ticaret, tried to export “specialized” equipment, including outboard engines, marine power generators and power boat propulsion equipment known as “surface drives,” the press release said.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned an oil tanker that shipped more than 2 million barrels of Iranian crude oil to aid Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force, Treasury said in an Aug. 30 press release. The tanker, Adrian Darya 1, and its captain, Akhilesh Kumar, are being sanctioned for providing support to terrorism, Treasury said. Treasury said the IRGC-QF’s “highest-ranking officials” oversee exports of Iran’s oil and hide its origin, sending it to Syria or “IRGC-QF proxies across the region.” The ship, formerly known as Grace 1, was recently detained by Gibraltar and released over U.S. objections (see 1908190036).
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security issued a guidance for exports, re-exports and transfers to Pakistan, covering license requirements for items subject to the Export Administration Regulations and best practices for screening Pakistani customers.
The Customs Department of Thailand will use TradeLens, a blockchain-based “shipment tracking and information sharing platform,” to improve customs procedures, according to an Aug. 29 report from the Bangkok Post. TradeLens, which is also used by Singapore, is an online trade platform that “enables efficient and accurate” tracking of cargo and information sharing, the report said. TradeLens will allow customs authorities to see shipping data when containers leave the port of origin, which will allow for more time to prepare for the shipments and speed up inspections, the report said. The blockchain technology may increase “trust among trading partners because the record of all transactions is shared within the network and permissioned parties can access the data in real time,” according to the report. TradeLens was developed by AP Moller-Maersk and IBM. Thailand Customs has been working on integrating TradeLens with IBM since October 2018, the report said. “The platform will be implemented at Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri first and later at Bangkok port,” according to the report.
In the Aug. 29 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The State Department is removing certain “lower performing radars” from the U.S. Munitions List and is extending for two years a temporary modification to Category XI, the State Department said in a notice in the Federal Register.
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.