Costa Rica published forms and instructions online for registering certain people and entities for value-added tax purposes, KPMG said in an Aug. 21 post. The form applies to exporters, exporter suppliers, and marketers, distributors and producers of food, among others, KPMG said.
The Canada Border Services Agency on Aug. 26 updated Memorandum D11-11-1 on national customs rulings. The update includes information on new procedures for processing ruling requests by email between the applicant or their agent and the CBSA. “The CBSA encourages the exchange of information by email with the applicant,” starts the new section on email communication. The updated memo also includes new policies on a five-year disposal and retention period for CBSA to retain records of ruling requests. Finally, the update includes new circumstances when a ruling will not be issued and the request rejected, including when supplementary information was requested but not provided within 30 days or the request does meet the requirements listed in the memorandum.
Global Affairs Canada issued a notice to brokers and a notice to exporters related to the country's accession to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (see 1906260066). “An export permit requirement has been put in place for the export of ATT items” to the U.S., GAC said. The reporting requirements “enable the Government of Canada to increase transparency by reporting on the permanent export of ATT items to the United States.”
U.S. exports to Canada and Mexico will increase substantially after the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is signed, Vice President Mike Pence said during a rally in New Mexico on Aug. 21. The rally was focused on the Permian Basin oil fields and their importance to the regional economy and U.S. energy independence. Pence said that, drawing on International Trade Commission forecasts, the USMCA will cause exports to Canada to increase by $19 billion and exports to Mexico to increase by about $14 billion. He said the U.S. oil industry, which exports about 30 percent of its oil to Canada and Mexico, will also benefit. “That number is only going to increase when the USMCA is signed into law,” he said.
Mexico recently issued regulations formalizing import restrictions put in place in 2018 meant to protect against the introduction of African swine fever, according to a press release from the Mexican Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER). Published on Aug. 15, the new regulations keep in place measures set in 2018 that prohibit the importation of pigs, pork, semen and embryos, as well as containers and vehicles used to transport these animals and animal products.
Paraguay designated Hizballah, al-Qaida, ISIS and Hamas as terrorist organizations, following similar sanctions levied by the U.S., the State Department said in an Aug. 21 press release. The State Department applauded the move and said it will help “cut off the ability of these groups … to raise money around the world.” Paraguay joins Argentina and the United Kingdom as countries that recently announced sanctions against Hizballah, which is "not a defender of Lebanon as it purports to be, but a terrorist organization dedicated to advancing Iran’s malicious agenda," the State Department said.
Canada updated its regulations under the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (CIFTA) for rules of origin for casual goods, the country said in an Aug. 21 Canada Gazette notice. The updated regulations "implement, in Canada, the rules of origin negotiated by Canada and Israel in the modernized CIFTA that will be used to determine when goods have undergone sufficient production to qualify for preferential tariff treatment," said Canada in another notice. "The rules of origin in the modernized CIFTA were simplified, liberalized, and brought up to date with Canada’s approach in more recent free trade agreements." The CIFTA tariff preference regulations were also updated.