China's General Administration of Customs published the terms of the new administrative measures for credit registration and recordation of enterprises that will take effect Nov. 1, according to an unofficial translation. China's previous measures on enterprise credit management will be repealed at the same time, the customs agency said. The new rules, for instance, stipulate that customs agents can collect enterprise registration or filing information from the relevant personnel, import and export and business information, administrative license information and information on penalties.

Kong Ming Jie, Singapore national and importer, was fined $50,000 by the Singapore State Courts for evading Goods and Services Taxes, submitting false declarations and failing to retain documents under the Customs Act, Singapore Customs said Sept. 10. Kong is the director of Nitecore Singapore Pte Ltd. and the only proprietor of Nitecore SG. Singapore Customs inspected a Nitecore shipment of LED flashlights and accessories at Changi Airfreight Centre in August 2019, finding that the declared value of the goods for one of the shipments was $400 but it was actually worth $23,336.47 (in Singapore dollars). For another shipment inspected the same month, Kong undervalued the goods by $8,000, Singapore Customs said. It said Kong pleaded guilty to five charges.

The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry took a hard line on a letter that 13 House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans sent Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg last week seeking information on reports that U.S. officials approved licensing applications for Huawei to buy U.S. semiconductors for China’s next-generation autonomous vehicles. The GOP members asked Buttigieg to respond by Sept. 23 to a dozen questions about the reports, including whether he’s concerned that Huawei is looking for a U.S. “foothold” to steal information on Americans and gather intelligence on the U.S. “transportation infrastructure.”

U.S. exporters of plant-based food ingredients and finished food products should see “huge market opportunities” in Thailand due to the rising popularity of plant-based diets in the country, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service reported Sept. 7. USDA said Thailand's plant-based food market is growing rapidly and U.S. exporters can “play a significant role in supplying the growing demand.” The country’s most popular plant-based categories are milk and meat replacements, including soy proteins.

India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade changed the import policy for mercury under Harmonized System Code 28054000 from “Free” to “Restricted,” in a Sept. 9 notice. The change now requires mercury importers to obtain prior informed consent from India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Thailand will transition from paper to digital issuance of coupons for tax rebates issued to importers and exporters, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Sept. 8. The change, which takes effect Sept. 21, will help the country’s customs agency to limit the spread of COVID-19 by reducing physical contact, the report said. The country plans to eventually extend digital processes to other customs procedures, including certain import permits.

India's Mumbai Sea Port, Tuticorin Sea Port and Vishakhapatnam Sea Port can now receive imports of genetically modified soymeal, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a Sept. 3 notice updating an Aug. 24 notice. India recently greenlighted the import of the "crushed and de-oiled genetically modified soya cake," but only at the Nhava Sheva port and the Petrapole land border port (see 2108270010). All other conditions of the original notice continue to apply, including that the provision is in place until Oct. 31.

India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade published the conditions under which Malawi exporters can ship tur (pigeon peas) to India, per a memorandum of understanding. The memorandum says India will allow 50,000 metric tons of the peas to be imported from Malawi over the next five fiscal years, 2021-22 through 2025-26. The peas will only be allowed to enter through five ports: Mumbai, Tuticorin, Chennai, Kolkata and Hazira. The pea shipments will be subject to "Certificate of Origin" certification by the "authorized signatories of Customs and Excise Division of Malawi Revenue Authority with stamps provided by the Government of Malawi." A scanned copy of the Origin Certificate will be sent by the authorizor to policy2-dgft@gov.in, and the Indian importer will send an email to DGFT with a scanned copy of the certificate along with the Importer-Exporter Code information, the release said.

Over 5,500 individuals were arrested in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong province during a seven-week raid of various operations in that triad, the South China Morning Post reported. The crackdown, code-named "Thunderbolt 2021," was held in two phases, fJune 6-July 11 and Aug. 16-30. Hong Kong police and customs officers detained 2,320 people for offenses including drug trafficking, deception, bookmaking and money laundering, the report said. This led to the seizure of more than $50 million in cash, narcotics and contraband goods. More than 1,100 people were arrested in Guangdong, and another 2,100 in Macau.

Singapore Customs arrested five individuals for illegally importing 6,000 cartons of cigarettes, while also seizing the duty-unpaid goods, the agency said. A Malaysian man and woman and three Singaporean men were arrested while attempting to smuggle the cigarettes. Singapore Customs observed the boxes being transferred into a Singapore-registered truck in Woodlands Industrial Park. This led the agency to seize 1,120 cartons of the cigarettes. These arrests led to follow-up checks, including one on a nearby Singapore-registered truck, prompting the seizure of another 4,928 cartons. The total amount of Goods and Services Tax evaded amounted to $516,490 and $41,430 (in Singapore dollars), respectively, the agency said.