Laos recently set new certificate requirements for non-resident importers and exporters that were set to take effect June 27, according to an alert from the law firm Tilleke & Gibbons. Under the new regulation, importers and exporters in Laos that have no registered business in the country will require a Trading Rights Certificate from the Department of Import and Export in order to sell and purchase goods. The goods can’t be sold directly to consumers in Laos, and must be sold through authorized distributors. To be eligible for a certificate, the importer or exporter must operate in accordance with the laws of their country of origin, have not committed an offense or be involved in criminal proceedings related to trade or financial matters, and must come from a World Trade Organization member country.
A bipartisan effort to reduce fentanyl trafficking passed the Senate June 27 on the must-pass defense authorization bill. The amendment would dedicate some money for investigations into which Chinese companies are supplying fentanyl to the U.S. black market. It also requires sanctions on drug manufacturers in China that knowingly provide synthetic opioids to dealers, and would sanction financial institutions that assist those manufacturers or international drug cartels. However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's staff could not say by press time how much money would be appropriated.
Trade lawyers talking about changes to NAFTA's rule of origin said they're fairly optimistic the trade deal rewrite will be ratified in Congress in 2019. But aside from the auto sector, which has a multiyear transition period, they're concerned that by the time ratification comes, there won't be time for importers and exporters to adjust by Jan. 1, 2020, when the replacement agreement is supposed to be in force.
There is significant tension and disagreement between the Defense and Commerce departments about the reach of U.S. export controls, said Jamie McCormick, a staffer for House Appropriations Committee Republicans, June 27 at the American Association of Exporters and Importers Annual Conference in Washington. McCormick said the confusion surrounding foundational technologies among U.S. industry leaders may stem from the original passage of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018, adding that he believes the executive branch does not agree on a definition for foundational technologies. “I’m not certain that at the time they passed the bill that the executive branch could say with any certainty what they meant by foundational technologies,” McCormick said.
In the June 26 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
In the June 25 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is seeking public input on proposed changes to labeling requirements in the Food and Drug Regulations (FDR) and the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR), the agency said in notices in the Canadian Gazette, Part I. Among other things, the SFCR proposal would "provide consumers with clearer information to guide their purchasing decisions, including expanding the scope of foods with a declaration of the foreign state from where the imported food comes from, what the food contains, and for how long the food would be of optimum quality," the agency said. Canada plans to implement the labeling changes through a "phased-in transition," a CFIA news release said.
The title of the panel discussion was "21st Century Management at our Ports of Entry," but panelists acknowledged that there are many ways the border operates that aren't modern at all.
The European Union Council renewed sanctions against Russian people and entities for the “illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation,” according to a June 20 council decision. The sanctions ban all imports into the EU originating in Crimea or Sevastopol except if those goods were “granted a certificate of origin by the Government of Ukraine,” according to the original decision. The sanctions were renewed for one year until June 23, 2020.
Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security added five Chinese entities to its Entity List, the latest escalation in the U.S. and China’s ongoing trade war. The move restricts the entities' ability to purchase certain U.S. products and will require licenses for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations with a review policy of presumption of denial. The entities are: Chengdu Haiguang Integrated Circuit, Chengdu Haiguang Microelectronics Technology, Higon, Sugon and Wuxi Jiangnan Institute of Computing Technology. The Wuxi Jiangnan Institute is owned by owned by the Chinese government, Commerce said.