Japan and Moldova signed a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement Jan. 20, Japan's Ministry of Finance said. The agreement is geared toward ensuring the accurate valuation of customs duties, enforcing customs laws and cracking down on the illegal trade in narcotic drugs, weapons, explosives, the ministry said. Both Japanese and Moldovan Customs will boost cooperation with each other and provide each other with services such as effective enforcement techniques, new customs violation trends and individuals known to have committed customs offenses.

China imposed phytosanitary requirements for any fresh pears exported from South Africa, the General Administration of Customs said, according to an unofficial translation. The new standards include requiring that packaging plants and cold storage vessels shipping the pears to China must be registered with South Africa's Ministry of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and also approved by China's General Administration of Customs. The requirements also lay out a list of eight pests for which, if detected, a fresh pear shipment will be quarantined.

Vietnam recently amended its rules for goods labeling on imports, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Jan. 19. The changes, which include revisions to ingredients and additives labeling requirements, take effect Feb. 15. Vietnam requires the label to specify the good's name, origin, manufacturer and country of origin, HKTDC said, and it also must include an extra label in Vietnamese if the original label is in a foreign language. Vietnam also lists a set of “approved phrases” for information on the origin, including “made in,’ “manufactured in,” and “producing country.” The labeling requirements include certain exceptions and don’t cover goods temporarily imported for reexport, transshipment or temporary exhibition and goods in transit, HKTDC said.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control authorized the South Korean government to deliver a compensation payment to Iran's Dayyani Group under a 2018 investor-state dispute settlement, South Korea said Jan. 12. South Korea said it received a specific license from OFAC to allow it to compensate the Iranian investor group for its failed acquisition of South Korea’s Daewoo Electronics. The payment stemmed from a 2018 ruling by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which ordered Seoul to pay the Dayyani Group about $63 million, The Korea Herald reported. South Korea said it had not been able to follow through with the payment due to U.S. sanctions but will now be able to send the money after receiving the specific license from OFAC Jan. 6.

China and Uruguay will implement a mutual recognition arrangement for customs administration Jan. 26, China's General Administration of Customs said Jan. 19, according to an unofficial translation. The agreement stipulates that both countries will recognize each other's Authorized Economic Operator program and give customs clearance convenience for the import and export of goods from the AEO enterprises. The result is a lower document review rate, reduced inspection rate of imported and export goods, priority in inspection to goods requiring physical inspection and a designated customs liaison officer to resolve issues encountered by these AEO enterprises in customs clearance.

Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department nixed the operations of 69 customs brokers working in HCM City, the state-run CustomsNews reported Jan. 15. The brokers' operations were halted because their licenses are beyond the six months from the date of operation and they failed to submit the application for resuming operations.

Vietnam's Quang Nam Customs Department will prosecute importer H.T.P Import & Export Co. for smuggling 88 tons of refined sugar into the Thang Binh district, the state-run CustomsNews said Jan. 15. A shipment of 200 tons of refined Thai sugar was detected in July in eight containers brought in by H.T.P and registered at Dien Nam-Dien Ngoc Industrial Park Customs Branch, the report said. Following an investigation, the H.T.P director said the company didn't sell 88 of the 200 tons of imported sugar and had borrowed the shipment of 200 tons of sugar to pay debts it owed to the P.H.H Trading Co., CustomsNews said. However, the investigating customs unit found that the amount at which the 88 tons were sold was below its value and thus amounted to smuggling. As a result, the Quang Nam Customs Department director transferred the case to the Quang Nam Provincial Police Investigation Agency for criminal prosecution.

India recently announced expanded market access for U.S. cherry exports, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service said Jan. 14. With the change, effective April 1, U.S. cherry exports to India are expected to grow to $5 million per year, a steep increase from the $600,000 worth of cherry exports sent to India in 2021. USDA said “significant market potential exists” in India’s major metropolitan areas and high-end retail stores, including its hotels and restaurant sectors.

China resumed customs operations for the import of fresh fruit and frozen goods through the Ha Khau border gate in the Guangxi region, Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade said, according to an unofficial translation. Following weeks of piled up trucks on the Vietnam-China border due to the temporary closure of three border countries between the two countries, authorities of Pingxiang, Guangxi, China reopened the Hekou gate, known as the Kim Thanh II border gate on the Vietnamese side. The trade ministry highlighted the importance ofthis move for its export of dragon fruit.

The Russian Arbitration Association released the results of its survey looking into the impact of sanctions on commercial arbitration. The survey results showed that 21% of the respondents said they were aware of situations wherein arbitration institutions refused to administer cases due to sanctions and that 5% of respondents said they knew of cases wherein these institutions or their banks were unable to accept payments from sanctioned individuals or entities. Sixty-nine percent of the respondents reported using neutral currencies for contract payments, and 18% said they knew of cases wherein arbitrators refused to act in a case that involved a sanctioned party. RAA said the survey was "conducted among 182 respondents from various jurisdictions."