Chinese tech giant Alibaba's logistics arm, Cainiao, announced it is launching daily cargo flights from Singapore to Hainan, China's southernmost point, Bloomberg reported April 22. Hainan is a trading hot spot due to its duty-free shopping and commitments to becoming a free trade zone and free trade port. Cainiao also plans to open additional cargo routes including to Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, Bloomberg said. In the longer term, European cargo routes are to be expected as well.

Singapore Customs in an April 23 trade notice released a list of common compliance errors made during declarations of permits, carnets, voluntary disclosures, free trade agreement rules, rules of origin and facts for motor vehicles. Such errors include inaccuracies in transhipment permit declarations for LCL containers moving from one free trade zone to another or wrong exchange rates used in GST payment declarations.

The Australian federal government scrapped a Victoria state government memorandum of understanding and a framework agreement with China as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in an emailed statement on April 21, Bloomberg reported April 22. The move could further enflame tensions between the two nations that have had a chilly relationship since Australia called for an independent probe into the origins of COVID-19, Bloomberg said. The Australian government also tossed Victoria state agreements with Iran and Syria. “I consider these four arrangements to be inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations,” Payne said."

Singapore will raise port dues in two phases beginning January to help the country fund rising port costs and increase efficiency for the Port of Singapore, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported April 21. In the first phase, Singapore will increase fees by 6% for vessels that berth at the port two to four days, with the percentage increasing for longer periods to incentivize “swifter turnaround times,” HKTDC said. In the second phase, beginning in January 2023, Singapore will double rates for vessels that stay in the port for up to one day and will increase rates by 25% for two-day stays. The fees will fund the country’s fairways, anchorages, “various shipping navigation aids” and its vessel traffic management system, HKTDC said.

Revising an order on regulating chemical substances, Japan placed new substances under its Class I Specified Chemical Substances list barring their import without permission, effective April 21, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced in a news release April 16. The cabinet designated 2,2,2-trichloro-1-(2-chlorophenyl)-1-(4-chlorophenyl) ethanol (also known as o,p’-Dicofol) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and/or its salts as Class I substances that now require permission to be manufactured and imported by businesses. The order also blocks the imports of certain goods made with Class I substances including paints, cleaning agents, toners and adhesives.

Cambodia recently released a framework for imposing value-added taxes on goods and services supplied through e-commerce, an April 20 KPMG post said. The framework includes various definitions for taxable items and activities, the post said. It also provides a list of e-commerce transactions that will be subject to VATs, including the supply of certain software.

Kazakhstan will begin imposing value-added taxes on electronic sales of goods and services by foreign firms, KPMG said in an April 16 post. The measure, to take effect in January, will affect sales to buyers with network addresses registered in Kazakhstan, who pay through a transfer service or with a phone registered in Kazakhstan, or who have places of residence in that country, KPMG said. The initiative also includes a registration process for “foreign internet companies” that will require those companies to certify certain information to Kazakhstan’s tax authorities, KPMG said. The foreign companies won’t have to issue VAT invoices or submit VAT declarations in Kazakhstan, the post said.

Japan's exports grew by 16.1% in March, signaling growing trade recovery throughout Asia and Japan's strengthened trading relationships with countries outside of China. Japan exported nearly 1 trillion yen more than the same month last year, the Ministry of Finance said in an April 19 release. While China was the largest export market for Japanese goods, the Pacific nation also saw a substantial jump in exports heading to the U.S. and the eurozone.

The Eurasian Economic Union, the executive body of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), informed Vietnam that it has exceeded its garment and textile export limit allowed under the free trade agreement between the two sides, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported April 12. The EAEU said Vietnam exceeded its annual export quotas for jerseys, pullovers, cardigans, waistcoats and knitted women’s suits, which could cause Vietnamese textile and garment exporters to lose their preferential tariff status for up to nine months, the report said. HKTDC said Vietnam plans to dispute the EAEU’s claims.

The Singapore Customs TradeNet will undergo system maintenance May 2 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time and May 9 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, it said April 16. 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.