The Canada Border Services Agency will relax a requirement that Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program members must first be part of the Customs Self Assessment, the agency said in a Dec. 9 customs notice. “Under the expansion of the FAST Membership criteria, the CBSA will extend FAST lane eligibility to highway carriers and importers who are sole members of the Partners in Protection (PIP) program,” it said. The agency will also use “two new notices that are generated pre-arrival to advise a carrier that a shipment is eligible or ineligible to use the FAST lane at the reporting port of entry,” it said. The change is effective on Dec. 9.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Dec. 6 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Brazil and Mexico recently announced antidumping actions on mainland Chinese products, according to a Dec. 5 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Brazil renewed an amended version of ts antidumping duty on certain mainland Chinese loudspeakers to cover loudspeakers weighing more than 18 grams used in “motor vehicles,” the report said. The duties do not apply to “buzzer type loudspeakers” used on “automotive dashboards,” HKTDC said. The measure imposes a 78.3 percent antidumping duty for the next five years. Mexico began a sunset review of duty on Chinese steel cables, which are currently subject to a duty of “$2.58 per kilogramme,” the report said.

Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows:

Argentina revoked its “non-preferential origin documentary requirements” for goods whose origin needs to be determined for statistical reasons, according to a Dec. 5 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. This includes certificates of origin requirements for certain textiles, apparel and footwear, the report said. Goods subject to antidumping, countervailing or safeguard measures and goods imported from countries that do not benefit from Most Favored Nation status remain subject to the non-preferential origin documentary requirements, HKTDC said. Argentina is rescinding the requirements “in light of the substantial advances made in the international trade arena in recent years,” the report said, which have caused the requirements to lead to “unnecessary delays and higher costs.”

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Dec. 4 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

The Canada Border Services Agency on Dec. 3 updated a memo on rail pre-arrival and reporting requirements to add information on direct delivery of consolidated freight, it said. The rail memo also now includes "details under carrier obligations, with regards to examination," it said. The agency also recently updated a memo on engine, vehicle, vessel and machine imports. That memo now has updated hyperlinks and contact information.

Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows:

Costa Rica recently published a definition for “strategic sectors” to determine which goods qualify for those sectors and are subject to preferential treatment, KPMG said in a Nov. 26 alert. The definition indicates which industries “qualify as strategic,” specifying they must be strategic for the “development of Costa Rica” to benefit from the country’s Free-Trade Zone System, KPMG said. Costa Rica also published certain exclusions from the strategic sectors, including products in the financial sector, the mining of hydrocarbons, the production of weapons and ammunition, and electricity generation (except for self-consumption).

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 27 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):