India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade proposed issuing Certificate of Origins (Non-Preferential) through its online Common Digital Platform, effective April 1. Issued in a Feb. 19 trade notice, importers and exporters will be able to file for a CoO (NP) online or in manual mode, but applications will be accepted only in online mode. A uniform fee of 100 rupees will be charged with each CoO certificate issued.
Hong Kong’s Trade and Industry Department issued an updated list Feb. 19 of officers authorized to sign delivery verification certificates and trade licenses for imports and exports of “strategic commodities.”
The Maritime Union of Australia has planned several strikes this month at an Australian port that are expected to “severely” affect the ocean shipping industry, a ports trade publication reported Feb. 15. Workers are protesting the increasingly “automated status” of the Victoria International Container Terminal at the Port of Melbourne, the report said. The strike could significantly affect a port that handles 3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year and lead to costly delays for certain ships.
China will allow imports of cattle from Laos, the country’s General Administration of Customs said in a Feb. 10 notice, according to an unofficial translation. In particular, farmers in Laos will now be able to export cattle under 4 years old to be slaughtered for human consumption within seven days of entering China, and slaughtered cattle for beef is also allowed. The notice includes quarantine and sanitation requirements for the imports.
Singapore Customs published a notification of tariff rate changes to gasoline on Feb. 16. Rates for various forms of gasoline rise from $6.40 to $7.90, or from $5.60 to $6.60 (all Singapore dollars). The new rates took effect Feb. 16.
India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Feb. 15 introduced an online e-Certificate Management System for imports. Effective Feb. 22, it will require electronic submissions for four types of import applications: I Card, Free Sale and Commerce Certificate, End-User Certificate and Status Holder Certificate. All certificates granted electronically will be given a QR code with a unique document identification number (UDIN).
China is looking into the prospect of placing export controls on rare earth minerals crucial for the manufacture of U.S. F-35 fighter jets and other crucial weaponry, according to a report in The Financial Times. The details of the proposed controls come a month after China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed draft controls on the production and export of 17 rare earth minerals in China -- the country that controls about 80% of global supply. “The government wants to know if the US may have trouble making F-35 fighter jets if China imposes an export ban,” said a Chinese government adviser who asked not to be identified.
India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade amended its importer-exporter code (IEC) provisions to mandate that IEC holders ensure that the details of their assigned code are updated every year between April and June. In a Feb. 12 notification, the DGFT said an IEC will be deactivated if an update is not submitted within the allotted time and an IEC may be flagged for scrutiny, in which case the IEC holder must ensure that any flagged risks are addressed in a timely manner. India will also require any IEC updates to be made in an electronic portal. An IEC is a 10-digit identification number assigned by the DGFT to exporters and importers in India.
The Singapore Customs TradeNet will undergo system maintenance Feb. 21 from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, it said Feb. 8.The agency 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.
Malaysia recently designated its North Butterworth Container Terminal a free trade zone, exempting certain goods from customs duties, according to a Feb. 8 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The terminal will allow foreign investors to process imported raw materials without any customs and excise duties or sales and services taxes “prior to exporting their finished products to other countries,” the HKTDC said. Some goods still will be subject to “statutory surcharges,” the report said, including perfumes, alcohol and tobacco.