The Singapore Customs TradeNet will undergo system maintenance May 23 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, it said May 7. Singapore Customs advised users to avoid submitting applications during this time. This is in addition to the usual 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. Sunday maintenance.
China recently announced that public science museums, natural museums and planetariums are exempted from import duties and value-added taxes when importing certain goods, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported May 7. The exemptions, which last through Dec. 31, 2025, will apply to certain copies of hard drives carrying science films and “popular science equipment, exhibits, special software and other items for own use” that domestic manufacturers can’t produce.
Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade decided to continue collecting antidumping duties on certain aluminum products from China, following a review of the antidumping policy, Vietnam's trade-related news agency CustomsNews said in a May 3 report. The aluminum products will be subject to a duty rate ranging from 4.39% to 35.58% -- up from a floor of 2.49% when the duties were implemented on Sept. 28, 2020.
India is now requiring first-time importers, exporters and customs brokers to officially verify their identities with the government, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported May 3. All traders and brokers must “complete the process of verification” within 30 days of “first “engaging in import/export activity,” HKTDC said, which likely includes providing customs authorities with bank statements, company incorporation documents and “other proofs of a satisfactory financial standing.” The country may fine traders who don’t comply and revoke their “specified customs benefits.”
Singapore's State Courts fined a Singaporean national, Suhaily Binte Sajili, $9,000 for making a false declaration on an export permit, Singapore Customs announced in an April 29 news release. Sajili is the director of freight forwarding company Mac Cargo, and pleaded guilty to making the false declaration in an attempt to smuggle two luxury vehicles from the city-state into Indonesia. The export permit for the vehicles indicated “13.98 tonnes of refractory bricks.”
Vietnam Customs seized 25 boxes containing 500 kg of sturgeon brought illegally through China, the agency announced April 28 via its news operation CustomsNews. The individual caught with the shipment said he bought the sturgeons from China, then was hired to transport them to Vietnam. The confiscations took place April 24 at the Po Hen Border Guard Station.
Australia simplified its rules for its Export Market Development Grants program to help small and medium-sized companies more easily access export funding, the country said April 28. The new rules will feature a “simpler” application process with less frequent submissions and a new online application portal. The simplified program will help exports better “compete and succeed internationally,” Dan Tehan, Australia’s trade minister, said in a statement.
China's General Administration of Customs published phytosanitary requirements for pomegranates from Uzbekistan in an April 25 customs notice, according to an unofficial translation. To be properly exported to China, the pomegranate orchards, packaging plants and cold storage facilities need to be registered jointly with the Chinese customs agency and Uzbekistan's State Plant Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.
China’s customs authority recently revised its administrative provisions and registration procedures for “overseas manufacturers of imported foods,” the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported April 28. The revisions, which take effect Jan. 1, will require all overseas manufacturing, processing and storage entities that export food to China to register with China’s General Administration of Customs. That registration will be valid for five years, HKTDC said. Registration renewal applications may be submitted to the agency within three to six months before the expiration date.
China's General Administration of Customs announced a ban of imports of poultry and related products from Mali due to an outbreak of avian influenza, an April 26 customs notice said, according to an unofficial translation. All inbound transportation vehicles containing poultry from Mali will be immediately sealed for storage and may not be opened, the notice said.