The maximum number of items an importer or exporter can claim under the certificate of origin provision in the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement increased from 20 to 50, the Chinese customs agency announced in a June 29 news release, according to an unofficial translation. The change is effective Sept. 1.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control will officially remove the International Criminal Court-Related Sanctions Regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations, OFAC said in a notice. The sanctions were originally imposed under the Trump administration but sparked opposition from human rights advocates. President Joe Biden revoked them in April (see 2104020046). The removal takes effect July 6.
Rep. Jodey Arrington, a Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, was cool to fellow Texas delegation member Sen. John Cornyn's proposal to study the possibility of allowing goods made in foreign-trade zones to be considered originating under USMCA.
The Census Bureau is considering a proposed rule that would require export filers to declare the country of origin for foreign products included in certain transactions. The agency considered the change about five years ago but has recently returned to the idea and expects to issue a proposal “soon,” said Omari Wooden, a senior Census official. “It’s something that's on the horizon,” Wooden said, speaking during the American Association of Exporters and Importers annual conference June 30. “You'll probably be seeing more information about that soon.”
South Korea Customs published a June 30 guidance for the implementation of free trade agreement customs duties for travelers' belonging from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Turkey and the European Free Trade Association, according to an unofficial translation. The application of simple customs procedures for travelers' carry-on items will be expanded to travelers from the EU, the U.K., Turkey and the EFTA. The declaration of origin written in the attached form will be accepted from these travelers. A purchase receipt or certificate of origin when applying for preferential treatment submission will now be allowed.
CBP issued an interim final rule that implements several provisions included within the USMCA. The rule, which took effect July 1, implements USMCA language on import and export requirements, "general verifications and determinations of origin, commercial samples, goods re-entered after repair or alteration in Canada or Mexico, and penalties," among other things. Another interim final rule to implement other USMCA provisions will also be issued "at a later date," said CBP.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, introduced a bill that would require a study of whether Canadian and Mexican manufacturers are able to get tariff breaks on non-North American inputs to their goods, and if so, does that affect the cost-competitiveness of products manufactured in the U.S. for domestic and export markets. Cornyn led an unsuccessful effort to convince the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in 2020 that goods produced inside foreign-trade zones should be treated as products of the U.S. (see 2012020031).
Mexico this month extended the deadline for a measure that will require most organic raw imports and bulk goods to be certified under the country’s organic law (LPO) standards (see 2105120008), the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service reported June 23. U.S. organic certifiers and exporters will have until Jan. 1, 2022, to certify under the LPO “or risk adverse actions by the competent authorities,” the report said. The measure was originally scheduled to take effect June 26 (see 2105040049), but Mexico pushed back the deadline after receiving postponement requests.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on an information collection related to certain “rarely used” short supply activities, the agency said in a notice. The first activity allows U.S. agricultural exporters to register for exemptions from “short supply limitations on export,” and the second activity includes a petition to impose monitoring or controls on recyclable metallic materials. Under the EAR, BIS said U.S.-origin agricultural goods purchased “by or for use in a foreign country and stored” in the U.S. to be later exported may voluntarily be registered with BIS “for exemption from any quantitative limitations on export that may subsequently be imposed under the EAR for reasons of short supply.” BIS previously requested comments Jan. 15 and is extending the comment period for an additional 30 days. Comments are now due by July 26.
CBP’s Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee released a partial version of its Export Modernization White Paper, which is meant to serve as a “strategy and roadmap” for the future of the export process (see 2106180025). The paper, presented by the Secure Trade Lanes Subcommittee’s Export Modernization Work Group during a June 23 meeting, includes information on the responsibilities of parties in the export process, where data “actually” originates, who owns the data, how it should be used for export enforcement and more.