Vietnam seized four tons of dried tamarind suspected of being smuggled through a district bordering with Cambodia, the state-run CustomsNews reported June 24. An anti-smuggling team working with local police discovered the goods while inspecting a fruit barn in the Tinh Bien district. The team found 400 boxes of dried tamarind from a foreign country, CustomsNews said. The barn's owner did not have the boxes' invoices and documents proving their origin, though he said he bought them in the Xuan Hoa hamlet. The anti-smuggling team verified this was not the case, and turned the case over to the Tinh Bien District Police for additional investigation.

The Singapore State Court sentenced Ho Shyan Tien, a Singaporean national, to eight months in prison and levied a $4.4 million (in Singapore dollars) fine for evading the Goods and Services Tax on imports of various goods between 2015 and 2019, Singapore Customs announced June 24. Ho, the only director of freight forwarding company Sea-Net Cargo Express, pleaded guilty to six charges of evading GST on the imports.

China's President Xi Jinping criticized global sanctions in a June 22 speech at the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said, according to an unofficial translation of a press release. Appearing virtually, Xi said sanctions are a "boomerang" and a "double-edged sword" that politicize and weaponize the global economy to impose "arbitrary" restrictions that ultimately harm others. BRICS member states are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Manfred Low Cheng Jing, a Singaporean national, was sentenced to 15 weeks in prison by the Singapore State Courts for obstructing investigations into alleged violations of the U.N. sanctions regime on North Korea, the Singaporean 24-hour news channel CNA reported. Low worked as a director of oil trading and bunkering company Yuk Tung Energy in 2018 while it was being investigated by the Singapore Police Force over a ship-to-ship transfer of "gasoil" from the MT Yuk Tung ship to the North Korean-flagged ship Rye Song Gang 1. A commercial arrangement was made to have Yuk Tung Energy charter the MT Yuk Tung. Through his position, Low tallied invoices over the company's business dealings and reviewed contracts, explaining them to the company's "key decision-maker," Benito Aloria Yap.

The Hong Kong Trade and Industry Department June 20 released updated applications for its international import certificate and its delivery verification certificate. Both certificates cover trade in certain “strategic commodities.”

Bangladesh recently increased duties on 135 imported products, including a range of consumer goods and industrial products, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported June 20. The country raised duties from 5% to 20% on various cosmetic items, including sunscreens, perfumes and shaving products, the report said. A 20% duty also applies to household items, including certain furniture and kitchen appliances, some of which were previously subject to duties of 3%-5%. Duties on fresh and dried fruit also increased from 3% to 20%, the report said. Bangladesh also increased duties on vehicle engines, oxygen, nitrogen, argon and “primary medical care items,” which are now subject to a 15% duty, and tires and construction raw materials, which increased from a 3% duty to a 10% duty.

U.S. agricultural exporters can benefit from “significant opportunities” in Bangladesh, particularly surrounding nuts, condiments, fruit juice, non-alcoholic beverages, snacks and baking ingredients, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report June 15. The agency said Bangladesh’s rising population and percentage of middle- and high-income households is creating a “growing potential market” for U.S. agricultural products. Although U.S. exports to Bangladesh have historically been “dominated” by soybeans, cotton and other bulk products, USDA said changing dynamics in the Bangladeshi market have created more opportunities for consumer-oriented goods.

Truckers in South Korea reached a deal with the government, ending a weeklong strike that threw a wrench into global supply chains. Returning to work on June 15, the truckers agreed to extend a freight rate system that guarantees minimum wages, Bloomberg reported. South Korea's transport ministry said that under the agreement it will give subsidies to alleviate the pressure of rising fuel costs. The strike started June 7 and has caused an estimated $1.2 billion in trade disruptions, South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, Bloomberg reported. The truckers demanded the extension of the freight rate system to help drivers deal with fuel prices.

India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade made changes affecting traders seeking to secure tariff-free trading of crude soya bean oil and crude sunflower oil for fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24 under India's tariff-rate quotas. Interested parties must now submit details of turnover for processing of crude edible oils in the last three financial years. Further, imports made under the TRQs are for domestic processing and consumption only, the DGFT said. The 2022-23 TRQs will be valid for clearance of import for a one-year period or until June 30, 2023, whichever is earlier. The 2023-24 TRQ will be valid until March 31, 2024. Unused quantities will be deducted from their proposed allocations during the next TRQ period. The TRQs are for 20 Lakh MT of crude soya bean oil and 20 Lakh MTs of crude sunflower oil.

The Singapore Customs TradeNet will undergo extended system maintenance June 26 4 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time, it said June 13. Singapore Customs advises users to avoid submitting applications during this time. This is in addition to the usual 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. Sunday maintenance.