Vietnam Customs detained five containers after discovering the number of goods inside was greater than the number declared by the company on its customs forms, according to an April 29 report from its CustomsNews website. The company, K.L Import Export Trading Production Company Limited, wrote in its customs declaration that it was importing about 3,000 stainless steel sinks from China, but the report said customs officers found more than 5,000 sinks in the containers. The products also did not have a brand label, which also violated Vietnam customs laws, the report said.

A new Indonesian regulation requiring fresh fruit and produce to be registered with the country’s Ministry of Agriculture “could potentially be another significant non-tariff barrier to marketing U.S. fruit and nuts in Indonesia,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service said in an April 15 report. Issued in January, the regulation requires that Indonesian importers and distributors must register their products and put in place a traceability system. It also sets new labeling requirements for fruits and vegetables. “It is unclear exactly what products will be subject to this new regulation and how it will be implemented,” USDA said. The report includes a translation of the new regulation.

Soybeans, peas and pork are now seeing new barriers to importation into China, Reuters reported on April 29. The rejections and delays of those products follow an ongoing dispute over imports of Canadian canola (see 1904170029). "Now traders say Canadian soybeans and peas face unusual obstacles," Reuters reported. "Ottawa also warned last week that China was holding up pork shipments over paperwork issues."

New Chinese electric bike standards took effect April 15, according to a notice from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and will impact the production, sale and use of the bikes. The announcement, made by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Ministry of Public Security, strengthens the China Compulsory Certification (CCC) system as applied to e-bikes, the notice said. The changes will ensure that “no restrictions are imposed on the sale of imported CCC-compliant e-bikes,” according to the notice. The changes will also improve oversight “of the relevant certification bodies and production enterprises” to ensure bikes meet the country’s standards and that “non-compliant” bikes are not sold, the notice said. The changes also dictate the “destruction” of all non-CCC-compliant e-bikes.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking in Beijing to a group of 5,000, including 37 countries' prime ministers, presidents and vice presidents, said that China will continue to reform its economy in a number of ways, and that it intends to increase imports of good and services. According to an official English translation of the April 26 speech, Xi said, "China is both a global factory and a global market. With the world's largest and fastest growing middle-income population, China has a vast potential for increasing consumption. To meet our people's ever-growing material and cultural needs and give our consumers more choices and benefits, we will further lower tariffs and remove various non-tariff barriers."

China and Japan will implement the mutual recognition arrangement for Authorized Economic Operator programs on June 1, the China General Administration of Customs said in a notice, according to an unofficial translation. The countries signed the MRA in October last year. The MRA allows for China to recognize companies certified by Japan's AEO program as certified by China's program and vice versa. The programs give AEO-certified companies expedited customs clearance and reduced inspections, among other benefits. China AEO companies exporting to Japan will need to notify the importer of the AEO company code so the Japanese importer can fill in the required information for the country's customs requirements, according to the translation. "After confirming the identity of China's AEO company, relevant convenience measures will be given," China said. Chinese importers will similarly need to provide a Japanese company's AEO code to receive the benefits, it said.

Four Chinese nationals were arrested in Singapore after they concealed alcohol shipments from China as soy sauce and did not pay tariffs, according to an April 23 notice from Singapore Customs. The men were involved in a scheme that imported more than 9,000 bottles of “duty-unpaid liquor” packed in more than 600 boxes, the notice said. The importers stored the boxes in an industrial building before Customs officers checked the goods and discovered the smuggling scheme, according to the notice. Singapore Customs said the men evaded about $186,000 worth of duties and about $17,000 worth of the country’s Goods and Services Tax. Importers who fail to pay taxes and duties can be fined “up to 40 times the amount” evaded and face a maximum six-year prison sentence, the notice said. “We will spare no effort in going after sellers as well as buyers of duty-unpaid liquor,” Assistant Director-General of Customs Yeo Sew Meng said in a statement.

Japan’s Cabinet on April 9 strengthened export controls against South Sudan in response to the United Nations Security Council’s 2018 arms embargoes and sanctions against the country, according to a notice from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Japan added the country “to the list of the areas subject to strict export control” in its Export Trade Control Order, the notice said.

China is now allowing applicants and their authorized agents to print out certificates of origin at several ports, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Chongqing, via its online single window and online customs platforms, the Chinese General Administration of Customs said in a recent notice, according to an unofficial translation. Applicants will need to upload the company’s electronic chop and the handler’s electronic signature, the Hong Kong Trade and Development Council said in a report on the announcement. The printable certificates are available for China’s free trade agreements with Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Chile, Switzerland, Iceland, Georgia, Singapore and South Korea, as well as the cross-straits agreement and the Asia-Pacific trade agreement (for exports to South Korea). They can also be printed for non-preferential certificates of origin, tobacco authenticity certificates, re-export certificates and processing and assembly certificates. The pilot program which began March 25, is intended to “further reduce the cost of customs clearance,” China GAC said.

Vietnam is adding more agricultural import procedures to its National Single Window, in pursuit of the country’s goal to complete its electronic filing system in 2019, according to a report from the General Department of Vietnam Customs’ mouthpiece CustomsNews. The newly available Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development functionalities include granting import permits for plant protection drugs, as well as import and export permits for plant genetic resources. The new additions bring the agriculture ministry up to 18 out of 35 of its procedures now available in the single window. A major initiative that remains to be completed is programming for quarantine and quality control for food, animal feed materials and aquatic products with animal and plant origins, the report said.