Mexico is renewing temporary tariff increases on steel products under 186 tariff subheadings, according to a notice in the March 25 Diario Oficial. The across-the-board 15 percent tariff had originally been imposed on the same 186 tariff subheadings in June 2018, before apparently expiring on Jan. 31, 2019. The renewed tariff increases take effect March 26, and will remain in place for six months, the notice said.
Natural Resources Canada released an updated list of Harmonized System tariff codes that will be affected by coming energy efficiency regulations, the Canada Border Services Agency said in an emailed message. The list no longer includes HS code 8504.40.1000, it said. The "list of HS codes for regulated energy-using products has been revised to reflect the Amendment 14 to the Energy Efficiency Regulations coming into force on April 30, 2019," it said in the notice.
The Salvadoran Central Bank (BCR) recently announced it would use an exclusively online permit system for importing food and beverage products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report posted on March 25. "The BCR announced that import permit requests for food and beverage products would have to be requested online," the FAS said. "This service will be available to all food and beverage importers through the BCR’s Single-Window for Foreign Trade (Ventanilla Unica de Comercio Exterior). According to BCR staff, the implementation of this new virtual procedure will reduce the request time from the 27 days averaged in 2011 to approximately 1 minute in 2019."
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) released an updated list of Harmonized Schedule codes that are subject to the agency's requirements, the Canada Border Services Agency said in a March 25 email. The only updates, which are effective April 1, provide a new range of codes -- 2914.11.0000 to 2914.19.0000 -- instead of only 2914.19.0000, according to the revised list.
Importers in Mexico that use the Secretary of Economy’s “PROSEC” sectoral promotion program must file annual reports in April or risk losing their benefits under the program, said Mexican law firm Consorcio Juridico Aduanero in a bulletin sent by email March 19. Importers that don’t submit the report, which includes data on national and export sales, will be included on a list of importers published by the Secretary of Economy for which PROSEC import benefits are suspended for the month of May, CJ Aduanero said. If the report is not submitted by the last day of June, the Secretary of Economy will permanently end the importer’s participation in the program.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will revise its requirements for importing koi from the U.S. starting April 15, the agency said in a March 22 notice to industry. All imports of live Koi carp from the U.S. for aquarium and outdoor holding unit end uses will require a valid CFIA import permit and a U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service export certificate, the CFIA said. "Koi carp can no longer be included on the same import permit as other aquatic ornamental species and will require a separate permit," the agency said. Also starting on April 15 "import documentation for live Koi carp imported from the U.S. for aquarium or outdoor holding unit end uses must be reviewed by the National Import Service Centre (NISC)," it said. "Prior to arrival at the first port of entry, all relevant documentation must be submitted to the NISC."