The Canada Border Services Agency will revisit the changes it recently made to the Electronic Commerce Client Requirements Document (ECCRD) for Integrated Import Declaration (see 1904240052), the agency said in an April 30 email. "As a result of the concerns raised by trade chain partners, the Canada Border Services Agency will be reviewing the coding changes that are included in the Single Window Electronic Commerce Client Requirements Document, Addendum 1.0 to v4 to develop a way forward that is practical and achieves our shared objectives," it said. More information will be sent when available, it said.
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau met with Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe on April 28 and discussed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), according to a news release from Trudeau's office. "There has been a significant increase in demand for Canadian products since the CPTPP came into force," it said. "For example, some Canadian beef products exported to Japan have increased nearly threefold." Also, the two leaders signed a Memorandum of Cooperation that "will make it easier for Canadian and Japanese companies to work in partnership, and will drive investment in both our countries." Jim Carr, minister of international trade diversification, said: "Our close economic ties with Japan have never been stronger thanks in large part to our new trade deal with Asia and Pacific countries -- and our government is strengthening those ties even further. That’s why we’re adding trade commissioners right across Canada, and putting new trade commissioners in three major Japanese cities to help our businesses and economy grow."
Brazil recently announced changes to its special customs regimes for the oil and gas industry, according to an alert from EY. In a notice published April 5, the Receita Federal do Brasil (RFB) amended its “normative instructions” on the Repetro and Repetro-Sped programs related to how imports and temporary imports qualify for the program, what goods may qualify, the circumstances under which the regimes may not be used and application requirements.
The Canada Border Services Agency updated Memorandum D19-6-3 on importing energy-using goods to add some new product requirements. The memo was updated to reflect an amendment that "as of April 30, 2019, adds import reporting requirements for the following new products: battery chargers, commercial pre-rinse spray valves, metal halide lamp ballasts, microwave-ovens, small electric motors, walk-in coolers, walk-in freezers, and whole-home dehumidifiers," the CBSA said. Natural Resources Canada released an updated list of the affected Harmonized System codes in March (see 1903250036). The CBSA also said in an April 25 email that it updated the Single Window Initiative (SWI) Integrated Import Declaration (IID) Regulated Commodities Data Element Matching Criteria. The memo was also updated to account for the amendment that "as of November 1, 2018, removes import-reporting requirements for external power supplies, electric motors and fluorescent lamp ballasts, when they are imported as a component of another end-use product."
The Canada Border Services Agency issued an update to the Electronic Commerce Client Requirements Document (ECCRD) for Integrated Import Declaration, it said in an April 23 email. "The changes identified within this Addendum range from minor corrections/additional instructions to [partner government agency] legislative and regulation rule changes," the CBSA said. "Please note that any item highlighted as a Rule Change or Code Change will be available in the Testing environment in May 2019. Following a 5-month period for client testing, the changes identified in this addendum will be migrated into CBSA’s Production environment in October 2019," it said. CBSA recently said it would delay the retirement of the legacy release options (see 1903280062).
There may be a delay in the April 24 daily notices "due to the high volume of transactions processed this past holiday weekend," the Canada Border Services Agency said in an April 23 email.
The Mexican Confederation of Customs Broker Associations issued a circular April 22 to clarify value-added tax treatment in Mexico for patent medicines. Based on a review of the applicable laws and regulations prompted by confusion among some CAAAREM members, the association said that imports of merchandise considered by tax and health legislation to be patent medicines are eligible for a zero percent VAT rate. Merchandise classifiable in Chapter 30 of the Mexican tariff schedule, that are covered by Article 7 of the Mexican VAT regulations, have a VAT rate of zero percent at the time they are imported into Mexican territory, said the circular, which was posted by the trade consultancy AJR Comercio Exterior.