The European Court of Auditors on March 14 issued a report on the European Union’s system for monitoring organic products, including imports. According to the report, EU member state monitoring of organic products and importers is still incomplete, and import supervision could be improved by better cooperation between member states and with the exporting countries. The report also discusses changes to the EU’s equivalence scheme that will set more stringent requirements for countries allowed to export organic products to the EU, as well as the EU’s work improving its monitoring of organic exporters to the EU, particularly in China.
China recently issued a national food safety standard for vegetable oil, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The standard, which was implemented in late 2018, provides standards for “crude vegetable oil, edible vegetable oil, edible vegetable blend oil and various edible vegetable oils used in frying food,” USDA said. The standard does not apply to “edible oil products, such as edible hydrogenated oil, margarine, shortening, cocoa butter substitute, whipped cream, and powdered oil,” USDA said. The standard includes certain requirements for the physical and chemical makeups of the oils.
As long as the trade talks are limited to industrial goods -- which does include fisheries under World Trade Organization rules -- European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said she thinks the talks could conclude before the current commission leaves office in late October. Malmstrom was visiting Washington to talk to her counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and to give a speech at the Georgetown Law International Update.
China said it is blocking some imports of canola from Canada over pest concerns, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported on March 6. "I can tell you responsibly that the Chinese government's decision is definitely well founded," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said during a news briefing, according to the CBC. "Upon verification, China customs has recently detected dangerous pests in canola imported from Canada many times." The CBC reported on March 5 that shipments of canola from Richardson International, a major Canadian exporter, were being blocked and China customs canceled the company's registration on March 1.
China will lower its value-added-tax rates on certain goods and services from 16 percent to 13 percent and from 10 percent to 9 percent, China's Premier Li Keqiang said during the opening of the county's annual meeting of its National People's Congress on March 5, according to multiple reports. While Li said the new 13 percent VAT will apply to manufacturing and the 9 percent will apply to transportation and construction, KPMG projects the scope of the rate changes to broad, with the 13 percent rate applying to all Chinese imports. Li did not announce when the new rates will take effect, although they are expected this year.
Argentina Customs recently increased reference prices used to set minimum per unit valuation for imports of motorcycle helmets under subheading 6506.10.00 from a handful of countries in Asia, and added a new reference price for bicycle helmets from those countries, according to a notice in its Boletin Oficial. Reference prices for motorcycle helmets were increased to $16-$100, depending on materials used in the helmet, up from $13-$14, according to a note from Global Trade Alert. Reference prices for bicycle helmets were set at $2.82 to $4.50. The reference prices apply to merchandise from North Korean and South Korea, China, the Philippines, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, according to the notice.