Norway is proposing to amend regulations to simplify customs clearances and the country’s value-added tax system for low-value shipments, according to an Aug. 19 KPMG report. The proposal would repeal VAT exemptions and other “indirect taxes” on imports worth less than about $350. New legislation would leave sellers and “online marketplaces … liable for VAT on cross-border sales of low-value goods to final consumers in Norway,” KPMG said. Online sellers would “register, declare, and pay VAT” on the sales under the new system, KPMG said, which would take effect Jan. 1, 2020.
The State Department approved the potential sale of $8 billion worth of defense-related goods to Taiwan, the Defense Department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in an Aug. 20 press release. The sale to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office includes 66 F-16C/D Block 70 aircraft, engines, radars, computers, “multipurpose launchers” and other military products. The sale serves U.S. national interests by supporting Taiwan’s military to help it “maintain a credible defensive capability,” the press release said.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on three Chinese citizens and two Chinese entities for drug trafficking, Treasury said in an Aug. 21 press release. OFAC designated Fujing Zheng and his company, Shanghai-based Zheng Drug Trafficking Organization (Zheng DTO), under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. OFAC also sanctioned Xiaobing Yan for being a drug trafficker, Guanghua Zheng for supporting Zheng DTO and Shanghai-based Qinsheng Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., for being owned by Zheng.
The United Kingdom’s department of Revenue and Customs on June 10 submitted written evidence to an inquiry from the U.K.’s Committee on Arms and Export Controls. The questions and answers document includes details on how the department determines enforcement penalties for export violations, how the department decides when to proceed with certain cases, the department’s “high vacancy rate” among staff and more. The department also addressed why it only conducted six “full criminal investigations” of a total of 652 "preliminary assessments" of potential breaches of export controls in 2016, difficulties in investigating end-user violations and what plans it has for preparing U.K. export controls after Brexit.
Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security issued a guidance on Aug. 20 about the disclosure of technology or software subject to export controls “between and among members of standards setting or development groups or bodies.” BIS said it issued the guidance after receiving “a number of questions” about the temporary general license for Huawei and the Chinese company’s addition to the Entity List. The guidance tries to clarify which activities are prohibited among standards organizations when discussing Huawei and its Entity Listing.
In the Aug. 20 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security revoked export privileges for four people after they exported guns, ammunition and other defense-related items from the U.S. to Lebanon, BIS said Aug. 13. The four people -- Ali Afif Al Herz, Sarah Majid Zeaiter, Adam Al Herz and Bassem Afif Herz -- were convicted in 2016 of violating the Arms Export Control Act by exporting items on the U.S. Munitions List without State Department licenses. Each was sentenced to prison and placed on the State Department’s Debarred List.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a Dominican Republic-based drug trafficking organization, its owner, supporters and several businesses run by the organization’s owner, Treasury said in an Aug. 20 press release. The sanctions include designations under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act against the Peralta Drug Trafficking Organization, Dominican national Cesar Emilio Peralta, and eight more Dominican nationals for supporting the organization and nightclubs owned by Peralta.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control released its Biennial Report on Licensing Activities detailing license applications the agency processed for authorization to export to Iran and Sudan. The Aug. 19 report, which covers OFAC actions from October 2014 to September 2016, is mandated by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 and covers OFAC applications that request permission to export “agricultural commodities, medicine and medical devices” to Iran and Sudan. The report includes the number of applications OFAC received, issued and denied. OFAC requested public comments on the TSRA’s licensing procedures in 2018 and said it received one comment that pointed to the “difficulties in using the financial mechanisms in place for making payments related to transactions” under the TSRA.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 12-16 in case they were missed.