A referendum in Taiwan to ban certain imports of U.S. pork failed last week after not enough voters “showed up to validate the outcome,” Reuters reported Dec. 18. Voter turnout did not meet the 5 million threshold to either pass or reject the proposal, the report said, which would have banned pork imports containing a “leanness-enhancing additive.” More Taiwanese voters voted against the proposals than for them, the report said.

Singapore Customs, along with the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) of the Singapore Police Force and the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority, conducted an operation at the Singapore Changi Airport on Dec. 15 to root out customs violations among travelers arriving in Singapore, the agency said. The operation consisted of enhanced checks targeting in-bound travelers at the Arrival Halls of two terminals in the airport and resulted in the detection of customs violations for 23 individuals. Individuals were found to have failed to declare and pay taxes on dutiable cigarettes, liquors, gifts and food items. One individual was also found with over $22,600 in unreported cash. The first such joint-enforcement operation was conducted Nov. 26. CAD oversees the Cross Border Cash Reporting Regime’s efforts to curb money laundering, terrorist financing, and other criminal activities, the agency said.

China and Belarus held their third round of negotiations on the Agreement on Trade in Services and Investment, China's Ministry of Commerce said in a Dec. 20 notice, according to an unofficial translation. The virtual talks, held Dec. 16-17, covered an exchange of views on nine chapters, including those on investment, e-commerce and intellectual property, and development of a work plan for next steps.

China has implemented phytosanitary standards and quarantine requirements for imports of pine wood in order to prevent the introduction of pine wood nematodes, China's General Administration of Customs said in a Dec. 16 notice, according to an unofficial translation. The requirements will come into effect Feb. 1, 2022. The measures include requiring the phytosanitary department of the exporting country to take samples of each batch of logs to be imported into China for laboratory testing for the presence of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus -- a pine nematode. Logs detected to have nematodes may not be shipped to China, Customs said. If pine nematodes are not detected, each batch of logs should be fumigated with bromomethane and thionyl fluoride before being sent to China.

Myanmar recently issued a new list of goods that require import licenses before entering the country, USDA said in a Foreign Agricultural Service report Dec. 16. The new list, which takes effect Jan. 1, imposes restrictions on various food items, including apples, grapes, oranges, pears and butter and milk products. It also includes electronic devices, cosmetics and consumer products, paper and paperboard and goods related to construction, the report said. The imposition of license requirements could further delay U.S. shipments to the country, the report said, especially due to the already slow customs procedures and staffing shortages resulting from the military-led coup earlier this year (see 2107120011).

China criticized the U.S.’s decision last week to sanction a range of Chinese companies for their involvement in human rights violations in the Xinjiang region, saying the U.S. has “wantonly suppressed Chinese institutions and enterprises by overstretching the concept of national security.” The sanctions announced last week included export restrictions (see 2112160017) and an investment ban (see 2112160062) on various technology firms. “The attempt of the U.S. to use Xinjiang to contain China will never succeed,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Dec. 17, according to a transcript of a regular news conference. “We urge the U.S. side to immediately correct its mistake.”

Singapore authorities arrested a Chinese national on Dec. 8 and seized more than 1,500 cartons of cigarettes for which duties had not been paid, Singapore Customs said. In the operation, Singapore Customs officers saw a man collecting goods from a warehouse and loading them onto a Singapore-registered truck in the Gambas Crescent region. The officers then arrested the man and seized 1,512 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed inside six air-conditioning units. A follow-up search at his residence turned up nine more packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes. The total amount of Goods and Services tax evaded totaled around $129,000 and $10,000, respectively (in Singapore dollars), Singapore Customs said. Charges have been filed against the Chinese national and proceedings are "ongoing."

China expressed serious concern over reports that the U.S. may impose tougher sanctions on the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, China's leading semiconductor manufacturer. In Dec. 15 comments, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry said that "by overstretching the concept of national security, certain US politicians politicize and instrumentalize science and technology and economic and trade issues based on ideology." The spokesperson said the sanctions would run contrary to market economy and fair competition principles and harm the prospect of security in global supply chains.

Vietnam Customs will provide free customs declaration software to the customs sector, the state-run CustomsNews reported, celebrating the launch of the soon-to-be deployed software. The move comes amid an effort to modernize customs, strengthen administrative reform and reduce customs clearance time in response to the import and export difficulties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said.

China updated its origin standard for certain goods shipped from Hong Kong to the mainland, the General Administration of Customs said in a Dec. 8 notice, according to an unofficial translation. Starting Jan. 1, 2022, China will implement an annex to the Harmonized System code 56.03. The annex says non-woven fabrics, regardless of whether they are impregnated, coated or laminated, have been changed from other items to this point in that the regional value component from Hong Kong is calculated as 40% by deduction or 30% by cumulative addition.