Hong Kong’s Trade and Industry Department released a list of 19 entities that are exempt from certain conditions and licensing requirements for air shipments of “strategic commodities,” according to a Jan. 2 notice. The exemptions, announced as part of Hong Kong’s “Air Transhipment Cargo Exemption Scheme for Specified Strategic Commodities,” applies to airlines, ground handling agents and freight forwarders that are “successfully registered” and were granted a certificate of exemption by the head of the Trade and Industry Department, Hong Kong said. The entities include UPS, FedEx, DHL Aviation, Japan Airlines and others.

China’s General Administration of Customs released guidance and more information about China’s plans to reduce import tariffs on more than 850 items in 2020 (see 1912230051), according to a notice released Dec. 30. The agency said it will soon issue a 2020 edition of the “Import and Export Tariff of the People's Republic of China,” and has published on its customs “portal” a “Catalogue for the Declaration of Customs Import and Export Commodities” regarding the tariff reductions, according to an unofficial translation. The customs administration also said it has adjusted “relevant customs commodity numbers” to “effectively implement the tentative tax rates.”

Singapore Customs issued a Dec. 30 notice and guidance about taking the “Customs Competency Test for Declarants” in 2020, including where the test can be taken and how payment for the test is made. The guidance also contains a set of frequently asked questions.

China saw fewer imports of solid waste in 2019 after increasing enforcement of waste smuggling, according to a Dec. 31 report from Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency. China said its total waste imports from January to mid-December increased by nearly 40 percent from the previous year, and the country’s customs authority investigated 21 percent fewer trash smuggling cases.

An upgraded economic partnership between Singapore and New Zealand takes effect Jan. 1, changing rules-of-origin procedures, updating documentation for preferential tariff treatment and more, Singapore Customs said in a notice released Dec. 31. The updated agreement changes the requirement that all manufactured goods have to contain at least 40 percent content originating from Singapore or New Zealand and introduces a new formula to determine whether a good qualifies as originating. And while companies can continue to “operate on a self-certification basis” to qualify for preferential tariffs, the agreement adds new entities that can issue certifications “attesting to the origin of the good besides the manufacturer,” Singapore said. The notice also contains a table describing each of the deal’s changes and which members of the supply chain they will impact.

Singapore Customs arrested three men and seized more than 7,390 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes after they illegally transferred the cartons from a Malaysia-registered truck to a Singapore-registered truck, the agency said in a Dec. 27 press release. The men evaded more than $670,000 (in Singapore dollars) worth of duties and Goods and Services Tax; they face a fine of up to 40 times the amount of taxes evaded and a maximum six-year prison term.

The Japanese Cabinet recently approved its 2019 supplementary budget, which will provide the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries with $2.97 billion toward “trade agreement countermeasures,” according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report released Dec. 30. The $2.97 billion is about a 2 percent increase from the previous year, the USDA said, and will be allocated toward countermeasures that include “export promotion” and support to increase the number of cattle raised in Japan. The funding will also support Japan’s “livestock sector,” small and medium-sized family farms and “smart agriculture.”

Ukraine recently signed a protocol for veterinary and phytosanitary requirements for exports of rapeseed meal to China, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report released Dec. 26. The protocol, to be in effect for five years, will “further stimulate rapeseed processing” in Ukraine and extend “upcoming [value-added tax] cancellation for rapeseed exports” from Jan. 1, 2020, until Dec. 31, 2021, the report said.

China’s Commerce Ministry released information about the State Council’s efforts to establish a “comprehensive cross-border e-commerce pilot zone” in 24 cities, according to an unofficial translation of a Dec. 27 notice. The ministry said the zones will “promote international trade liberalization,” “promote the healthy development of cross-border e-commerce across the country” and will feature value-added taxes on e-commerce retail exports and certain tax exemptions.

China’s plans to reduce import tariffs on more than 850 products (see 1912230051) is a response to the “weakest” expansion rate of the country’s economy in 30 years, according to a Dec. 27 post from Dezan Shira & Associates. The announcement was welcome news to Chinese companies, consumers and foreign exporters, who will be able to more easily ship a range of consumer goods to China, the post said. The announcement also pointed to further tariff-rate reductions with several of China's free-trade partners, including New Zealand, Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, South Korea and others. The tariff reductions were mainly a strategic move, the post said, and aimed to “fill the gap” in China’s domestic production to help its manufacturing industry. The post also contains a partial list of imported goods impacted by the new tariff rates.