Portugal is gaining more access to Chinese agricultural markets and signed a “protocol” with China in June that allows Portugal to export “swine offals” to China, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a Foreign Agricultural Service report released July 23. That move comes after a May agreement in which China agreed “to facilitate Portuguese agricultural exports,” USDA said. Portugal expects the Chinese market to “open for all Portuguese swine offals” by 2020, the report said. The agreements are expected to “transform the structure of Portuguese pork industry” and will bring challenges to “slaughterhouses without their own pork production and without export strategies,” the report said. In addition, Portugal’s pork industry plans to increase hog production “to satisfy the domestic and increasing international pork demand,” USDA said.

Mexico’s Tax Administration Service (SAT) issued 262 seizure orders for undervaluation in the first quarter of 2019, a year-on-year increase of 60.7%, according to a report on the Mexican business news site Opportimes. That’s even though SAT carried out only 625 value analyses during the first quarter, 60.1% fewer than the same period the previous year, the report said.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of July 22 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Brazil is establishing tariff rate quotas on a range of imports and reducing import tariffs “to correct a lack of supply in the Brazilian market,” according to a July 19 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Certain products -- including insecticides, “monochloroacetic acid,” polyester yarn, acrylic filament tow and certain vaccines -- will have their tariff rates reduced to 2 percent for one year, the report said. The reduced rates for each item will take effect at different times, ranging from July to December.

The head of the agriculture committee for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union initiated a review earlier this year of how Canada is running its tariff rate quota system for imported cheeses, according to a report in the National Post in Canada.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of July 19 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Canada is strengthening its antidumping regime “to better protect Canadian industry from unfair trade practices,” including making changes to its investigative and review procedures, the Canada Border Services Agency said in a July 19 press release. The changes update Canada’s criteria for beginning an investigation and detail “specific factors” for determining when CBSA should “initiate a full re-investigation or a more streamlined normal value review,” the release said.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of July 17 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Costa Rica issued a three-month moratorium on paying penalties related to value-added taxes, KPMG said in a July 11 post and report. The moratorium, issued in the country’s Official Gazette on July 10, applies to “penalties, interest, fines” and other “sanctions” in the country’s Code of Norms and Tax Procedures, KPMG said, but excludes “large taxpayers.” The moratorium does not exempt taxpayers from “submitting the tax returns, the tax payment, or the payment of the principal amount adjusted by the Tax Administration,” KPMG said.

Costa Rica’s General Tax Administration published a resolution clarifying which export-related services are exempt from value-added taxes, according to a July 5 post and report from KPMG. The recently published resolution said “port and airport services,” including transportation services for “goods destined for export to ports, airports and land borders” are part of the “exempt operations related to exports,” KPMG said.