Singapore will raise port dues in two phases beginning January to help the country fund rising port costs and increase efficiency for the Port of Singapore, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported April 21. In the first phase, Singapore will increase fees by 6% for vessels that berth at the port two to four days, with the percentage increasing for longer periods to incentivize “swifter turnaround times,” HKTDC said. In the second phase, beginning in January 2023, Singapore will double rates for vessels that stay in the port for up to one day and will increase rates by 25% for two-day stays. The fees will fund the country’s fairways, anchorages, “various shipping navigation aids” and its vessel traffic management system, HKTDC said.

Revising an order on regulating chemical substances, Japan placed new substances under its Class I Specified Chemical Substances list barring their import without permission, effective April 21, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced in a news release April 16. The cabinet designated 2,2,2-trichloro-1-(2-chlorophenyl)-1-(4-chlorophenyl) ethanol (also known as o,p’-Dicofol) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and/or its salts as Class I substances that now require permission to be manufactured and imported by businesses. The order also blocks the imports of certain goods made with Class I substances including paints, cleaning agents, toners and adhesives.

Cambodia recently released a framework for imposing value-added taxes on goods and services supplied through e-commerce, an April 20 KPMG post said. The framework includes various definitions for taxable items and activities, the post said. It also provides a list of e-commerce transactions that will be subject to VATs, including the supply of certain software.

Kazakhstan will begin imposing value-added taxes on electronic sales of goods and services by foreign firms, KPMG said in an April 16 post. The measure, to take effect in January, will affect sales to buyers with network addresses registered in Kazakhstan, who pay through a transfer service or with a phone registered in Kazakhstan, or who have places of residence in that country, KPMG said. The initiative also includes a registration process for “foreign internet companies” that will require those companies to certify certain information to Kazakhstan’s tax authorities, KPMG said. The foreign companies won’t have to issue VAT invoices or submit VAT declarations in Kazakhstan, the post said.

Japan's exports grew by 16.1% in March, signaling growing trade recovery throughout Asia and Japan's strengthened trading relationships with countries outside of China. Japan exported nearly 1 trillion yen more than the same month last year, the Ministry of Finance said in an April 19 release. While China was the largest export market for Japanese goods, the Pacific nation also saw a substantial jump in exports heading to the U.S. and the eurozone.

The Eurasian Economic Union, the executive body of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), informed Vietnam that it has exceeded its garment and textile export limit allowed under the free trade agreement between the two sides, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported April 12. The EAEU said Vietnam exceeded its annual export quotas for jerseys, pullovers, cardigans, waistcoats and knitted women’s suits, which could cause Vietnamese textile and garment exporters to lose their preferential tariff status for up to nine months, the report said. HKTDC said Vietnam plans to dispute the EAEU’s claims.

The Singapore Customs TradeNet will undergo system maintenance May 2 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time and May 9 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, it said April 16. 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.

Vietnam Customs seized three shipments containing more than 1,000 pairs of Nike-labeled shoes suspected of being counterfeit, the agency announced April 14 via its news operation CustomsNews. The agency confiscated the shoes along with 24 boxes of makeup powder labeled as Yves Saint Laurent. The individuals caught with the shipments said the goods were manufactured in foreign countries, but the agency found no documents verifying the country of origin, the report said. The confiscations took place April 4 to 9, in the Mong Cai and Quang Ninh areas.

India's Director General of Foreign Trade allocated an additional 3675.13 metric tons of raw/refined sugar to the United Kingdom under the tariff-rate quota scheme for the period of 2020-21, the agency announced in a trade notice. The additional quantity is beyond the 10,000 MT quota, under which the sugar is duty free, set under the current regime and is extended to Sept. 30.

China's General Administration of Customs will bar all imports from Malaysian aquatic products manufacturer Jefi Aquatech Resources and all Pakistani aquatic products for one week, the agency announced in two customs notices. According to an unofficial translation, the imports are being blocked due to the detection of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 on an inner packaging sample from Malaysia and an outer packaging sample from Pakistan.