On June 11, 2021, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a notice announcing that the Parties to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) intend to hold the first meeting of the Labor Council virtually, on June 29, 2021. The session will include a government-to-government Labor Council meeting and a virtual public session on implementation of the USMCA labor chapter. The USTR and the US Department of Labor (DOL)…
The EU Taxation and Customs Union announced that new VAT rules on cross-border business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce transactions will enter into effect on 1 July. The following is from the announcement: Everyone in the e-commerce supply chain is affected, from online sellers and marketplaces/platforms both inside and outside the EU, to postal operators and couriers, customs and tax administrations, right through to consumers. Online sellers, including online marketplaces/platformscan register in one EU Member State and this will be valid…
On 9 June 2021, the Swiss Government announced that the Federal Customs Administration (FCA) and the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation (FCS) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on customs cooperation in Moscow on 9 June 2021. The main objective of the MoU is to promote technical cooperation and the exchange of best practices in various areas. The MoU also provides an opportunity to optimise processes in the cross-border movement of goods with…
On June 8, 2021, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a notice [Docket No. USCBP-2021-0020] that the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) will hold its quarterly meeting on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 from 1-5 p.m. (EDT) . The meeting will be open to the public via webinar only. There is no on-site, in-person option for this quarterly meeting. Public comments are welcome. The COAC will hear from the current…
On 8 June 2021, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products issued a press release announcing the results of Operation PANGEA XIV. The release said in part: Authorities worldwide have been checking for criminal online sales of medicines in a coordinated operation: The week from 18 to 25 May saw a coordinated worldwide campaign against the illegal online trade in medicines. For years, this market has been dominated by erectile stimulants. Some 90% of the shipments…
In the midst of the COVID-19 situation in Thailand, a new Ministerial Regulation (Ministerial Regulation (No. 2) B.E. 2564 (2021)) sets a temporary measure during the period of 1 June to 30 September 2021 to reduce the duty surcharge rate to 0.25% per month for all importers and exporters who voluntarily disclose their errors by themselves and pay additional duty to Thai Customs. Under Customs Act, B.E. 2560 (2017), importers or exporters who fail to…
On 2 June 2021, the UK government announced that the CPTPP nations had agreed to the UK’s bid to begin the accession process to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The CPTPP is a trade agreement between 11 countries (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam), covering 500 million people. The announcement said the UK will continue to work closely with Japan, as this year’s…
On June 2, 2021, United States Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai announced the conclusion of the one-year Section 301 investigations of Digital Service Taxes (DSTs) adopted by Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The final determination in those investigations is to impose additional tariffs of 25% on certain goods (specified in Annex A to each notice) from these countries, while suspending the tariffs for up to 180 days to provide additional time…
On May 28, 2021, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a notice of intent to distribute assessed antidumping or countervailing duties in connection with countervailing duty orders, antidumping duty orders, or findings under the Antidumping Act of 1921 (known collectively as the continued dumping and subsidy offset) for Fiscal Year 2021 pursuant to the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA). Although the CDSOA was repealed by the…
Join us on Thursday 10 June as we discuss the key issues impacting Italian companies doing business outside of Italy and multinational companies doing business in Italy on import/export restrictions and related sanctions. Our experts will also share the importance of an effective trade compliance program and how to develop one. Register for this session here.