Vietnam customs seized 4,000 packs of cigarettes that were allegedly being smuggled to the Thuong Thoi Hau A commune in the Hong Ngu district, the state-run CustomsNews e-magazine reported. The Customs Enforcement Team discovered the shipment while monitoring the river route and inland area bordering Thuong Lac and Thuong Thoi Hau A, ultimately finding 16 plastic bags containing the packs of cigarettes. The e-magazine said transported smuggled cigarettes is on the increase (see 2204200016).
Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development proposed imposing a value-added tax on fertilizer products with the goal of boosting domestic production, the state-run CustomsNews e-magazine reported May 11. No VAT currently exists for fertilizer products. Fertilizer prices have continuously increased from the end of 2020 to the beginning of 2022, driven by higher oil prices, a major production input for inorganic fertilizers, CustomsNews said. Taking the action would help drive down the increased fertilizer costs for agricultural production and, potentially, assist in a move toward green production.
Singapore Customs on May 9 arrested a man and seized over 1,500 cartons of cigarettes that were allegedly skirting customs duties on the shipments, Singapore Customs announced. Customs officers observed a transaction at a construction site where "a suspicious consignment of goods was delivered earlier," the customs agency said. A man later arrived to receive the consignment. The officers, after checking out the goods, found 1,586 cartons and 18 packets of cigarettes for which duties had not been paid hidden in the consignment of two electrical panels. The duty and Goods and Services tax evaded totaled $135,590 and $10,790, respectively, the release said. The man already is involved in an ongoing court proceeding for dealing in duty-unpaid cigarettes in December 2020, and was convicted for the same offense in 2011.
Indonesia recently imposed an export ban on palm oil products, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported May 10. The ban, which applies to refined products and crude palm oil, will remain until the domestic price of bulk cooking oil is reduced, the report said. HKTDC said the ban is likely to “cause major supply chain disruption” across Asia and in other regions, partly because Indonesia accounts for a majority of the world’s palm oil production. Malaysia, the second-biggest palm oil producer, is “unlikely” to fill the loss of supply from Indonesia in the short term, the report said. HKTDC said the cooking oil market is already facing pressure due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has hurt sunflower oil production.
Vietnam Customs handled over 1,000 customs violations in April, the state-run CustomsNews e-magazine reported May 10. The cases led to seizures of sugar, cigarettes, beer, powdered milk, medicines, cosmetics, electronics and poultry, the report said. Vietnam Customs "presided over and worked with other authorities" to handle 1,061 cases of customs violations, tackling shipments that had not been declared with customs and allegedly were smuggled into Vietnam. Two cases were taken to court and four were transferred to other agencies, CustomsNews said.
The Singapore Customs TradeNet will undergo extended system maintenance May 22 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, it said May 6. 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.
Russia imposed retaliatory sanctions on Japanese politicians, businesspeople and members of the media, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, banning their travel to Russia, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced May 5, according to an unofficial translation. The 63 individuals subject to the reciprocity also include Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno and Foreign Affairs Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.
The Hong Kong Trade and Industry Department issued a circular May 3 listing the latest version of signatures of agency officers authorized to sign and issue Delivery Verification Certificates and import and export licenses covering strategic commodities.
Fiji's High Court in a May 3 order gave the U.S. and local authorities permission to seize the Amadea, a $325 million mega-yacht whose ownership is in dispute. The U.S. said sanctioned Russian billionaire Suleyman Kerimov owns the yacht. A lawyer representing the company that the vessel is registered under told Bloomberg the yacht is owned by another businessman not on any sanctions lists. The High Court further gave lawyers representing this second businessman until May 4 to file a stay order, Bloomberg reported. The U.K. and the EU in March sanctioned Kerimov for his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. sanctioned him in 2018.
Taiwan recently modified its import restrictions on poultry and poultry products from the U.S. and Canada that are affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said in an April 29 report. The temporary change will allow imports of poultry from banned U.S. states or Canadian provinces if the slaughter date is 14 days or more before HPAI detection occurred. USDA said the shipments may be subject to additional packing and transportation requirements.