The central bank of Nepal recently introduced a measure to limit imports of certain luxury goods, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Jan. 5. The Nepal Rastra Bank “set a 100% cash margin when opening letter of credit accounts,” requiring importers to have “funds on deposit” equal to the cost of the import of those goods “as a bank guarantee,” HKTDC said. The new requirement will apply to 18 product codes, which could curtail imports of mineral water, sugar, energy drinks, alcoholic beverages, vinegar, perfumes, footwear, tobacco products, cosmetics and more. The bank set a 50% cash margin for importers of automobiles and motorcycles.
India will continue operating a COVID-19 help desk it launched in April 2021 (see 2104260024) for parties seeking help with international trade-related issues, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a Jan. 6 notice. India's Department of Commerce and DGFT will monitor the status of imports and exports and difficulties faced by international trade stakeholders in amid the recent surge in cases of COVID-19, the notice said.
The free trade agreement between China and Cambodia officially entered into force Jan. 1, China's Ministry of Commerce said, according to an unofficial translation. The agreement establishes tariff-free trade on over 90% of goods between the two countries and also deepens cooperation in services trade, investment, China's Belt and Road initiative, e-commerce and technology, the ministry said.
Singapore Customs arrested four individuals -- three Singaporean nationals and one Malaysian national -- Dec. 28, seizing over 3,200 cartons of cigarettes for which duties had not been paid, the customs administration announced. The operation was conducted in an industrial unit around Loyang Drive where Singapore Customs snatched a total of 3,232 cartons of cigarettes for which the total duty and Goods and Service tax amounted to about $276,010 and $22,140, (in Singapore dollars) respectively. Customs officers also seized 1,056 boxes of pods and 247 vaporizers along with two Singapore vehicles used in the attempted smuggling of the cigarettes.
China cut its fuel export quota by more than half in its first group of allocations for 2022, Bloomberg reported Jan. 4. The country issued a quota of 13 million tons, about 56% less than the 29.5 million tons announced in the same batch last year, the report said. China’s overall fuel export quota in 2020 was already 36% lower than its quota in 2020, the report said.
Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade asked China's Guangxi region to reopen its border gates with the Southeast Asian country and extend customs clearance hours to help ease a container build-up due to COVID-19 policies, VnExpress International newspaper reported. The "zero COVID" policies of the Guangxi region include shutting down the border and suspending certain imports -- measures that a senior Vietnam trade ministry official told Guangxi trade officials were "unnecessary."
The Singapore Customs TradeNet will undergo extended system maintenance Jan. 16 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, it said Dec. 31. 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.
India extended the deadline from Dec. 31, 2021, to Jan. 31, 2022, to apply for a host of foreign trade policy schemes, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said. Would-be applicants now have until the end of this month to apply for the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme, Service Exports from India Scheme, Rebate of the State and Central Taxes/Levies, Rebate of State Levies and 2% additional ad hoc incentive. Applications for the MEIS can be for fiscal years 2018-2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. SEIS applications can be for fiscal years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. The covered period for RoSCTL is March 7, 2019-Dec. 31, 2020; the period for ROSL is up to March 6, 2019.
Hong Kong’s Trade and Industry Department released a list of 21 entities that are exempt from certain conditions and licensing requirements for air shipments of “strategic commodities,” according to a Jan. 3 notice. The exemptions, announced as part of Hong Kong’s “Air Transhipment Cargo Exemption Scheme for Specified Strategic Commodities,” apply to airlines, ground handling agents and freight forwarders that are “successfully registered” and were granted a certificate of exemption by the head of the Trade and Industry Department, Hong Kong said. The entities include UPS, FedEx, DHL Aviation, Japan Airlines and Korean Air Lines.
China recently extended its Section 301 retaliatory tariff exclusion period for the food additive sorbitol and certain other U.S. goods, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service said Dec. 31. The exclusion, which was set to expire last month, was extended until June 30 and marks the third time China has extended its tariff exclusion for sorbitol. USDA said the U.S. was the largest exporter of sorbitol to China in 2020.