Singapore Customs outlined rules of origin requirements and certification procedures under the new ASEAN-Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement that is slated to take effect June 11, in a recent circular. Beginning on that date, preferential treatment for Singapore-originating goods can be claimed under the agreement in Hong Kong, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. AHKFTA treatment is not available in other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states because they have not yet ratified the agreement, the circular said. The agency also outlined procedures for claiming preferential treatment in a separate circular.
India is adding about 100 electronic licenses, permits, certificates and authorizations from 23 participating government agencies (PGAs) to the eSANCHIT application, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs said in a June 3 circular. The new forms bring the total number of PGAs using eSANCHIT to 27, with only four previously having been set up in eSANCHIT since electronic filing capabilities for the system were launched in April 2018.
China bought about 13 million metric tons of American soybeans since December, when President Donald Trump decided to hold tariffs at 10 percent on List 3 of the Section 301 actions. But according to a new report from Bloomberg, those purchases have stopped. Officials told Bloomberg reporters that previously contracted sales will be honored. China may need fewer soybeans from any source because of the African swine flu epidemic crimping demand for livestock feed, the report noted.
The Hong Kong Trade and Industry Department issued a circular May 28 listing the latest version of signatures of officers at the agency that are authorized to sign and issue Delivery Verification Certificates and import and export licenses covering strategic commodities.
A Singapore man was sentenced to three weeks in prison for giving false information to Singapore Customs, according to a May 23 press release. The man, Ramesh Krishnasamy, helped operate an import business, Green Royal, which imported 800 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes and declared them as “176 pieces of empty plastic baskets,” Singapore Customs said. When Customs questioned Ramesh during the investigation, Ramesh gave a fake name to Customs for the man who Ramesh claimed “had suggested to him to start the business,” the press release said. Ramesh later told Customs he made up the name “to conceal the identity of the man,” an Indian national that was able to leave Singapore during the investigation. Singapore said it also arrested the Malaysian “lorry driver,” K Kumar Kannan, for knowingly transporting the cartons of cigarettes, which were concealed in a compartment in his vehicle. He was sentenced to prison for one year. Singapore Customs said giving false information can result in fines of up to $5,000 and/or one-year prison sentences.
The oversight of inspection and supervision of China’s exported and imported toys has been granted to China’s General Administration of Customs, according to a May 23 alert from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The change gives China Customs “responsibility for the inspection” of all traded toys listed in the “Catalogue of Import and Export Commodities Subject to Inspection,” HKTDC said. All toy exports and imports not listed in the catalogue will “remain subject to spot-checks in accordance with the prevailing GAC regulations,” the alert said.
China recently announced the broad outlines of a new food safety plan that seeks to implement a “world-leading set of food safety standards” by 2035, said a report by state-run news agency Xinhua. Utmost efforts should be made in developing standards, conducting regulation, imposing penalties and seeking accountability, the plan said, according to Xinhua.
China’s General Administration of Customs plans to “advance” joint law enforcement with its U.S. counterparts on intellectual property rights, according to a state-run news agency Xinhua report May 15. The effort comes amid expanded international cooperation on IPR protection, with more than 190 cooperation documents already signed and memorandums of understanding on IPR law enforcement signed with the U.S., the European Union, Russia, Japan and South Korea, the report said. A joint law enforcement mechanism has already been set up with Russian customs authorities, Xinhua said. “In addition, China will facilitate information and data sharing with other countries to more effectively crack down on IPR infringement and boost customs officers exchanges for capacity building,” the report said, citing an interview with GAC Department of General Operation chief Jin Hai.
Beginning June 3, Singapore Customs is requiring companies and individuals to submit voluntary disclosures of customs violations electronically, the agency said in a May 15 notice. Traders must now fill out the application form online instead of faxing or emailing a copy, it said. Singapore Customs also said the submission must include by attachment a “cargo clearance permit, air waybill or bill of lading, packing list/purchase order/delivery order, commercial Invoice and any other relevant documents.” The notice includes a frequently-asked-question appendix on the topic.
India again delayed retaliatory tariffs on goods imported from the U.S., pushing the new start to June 16, according to a notice from India’s Ministry of Finance. The tariffs, first announced in May 2018, will target agricultural products, motorcycles, steel products, and phosphoric and boric acid, and are aimed at offsetting the $241 million in duties India expects its U.S. customers to pay on its steel and aluminum exports. The tariffs have been delayed multiple times after they were originally expected to take effect in June 2018. Many of the items already face high tariffs -- walnuts are taxed at 100 percent, fresh apples at 50 percent, chickpeas at 60 percent, motorcycles at 100 percent -- but the actions would add 10 percent more to many ag products, 20 percent more to walnuts and almonds, and 50 percent more to motorcycles.