The Indonesian government is currently trying to tighten the flow of imported goods into Indonesia. As part of that effort, the government aims to further amend Minister of Trade Regulation No. 25 of 2022 on Amendment of Minister of Trade Regulation No. 20 of 2021 on Policy and Arrangements of Import  (“MOT Regulation No.25/2022“). The revision involves changing the import trading system for several types of commodities from “post-border” to “border”. The difference between the post-border trade system (“Post-border“) and the border trade system (“Border“) is the supervision system of the ..read more

On 15 November 2023, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (“EPPO”) uncovered a EUR 200M customs and VAT fraud scheme. This is yet another case of the EPPO, launched in 1 June 2021, as the first new supra-national prosecution authority in the EU. The EPPO has the power to investigate, prosecute and bring to judgment crimes against the EU budget, such as fraud, corruption or serious cross border fraud. This can also include cases on circumvention of anti-dumping duties (see our recent blogpost here). Notably, participation of EU Member States in EPPO is for now optional, with Member ..read more

In the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”) judgment of 23 November 2023 in case C-653/22 J.P. Mali, the CJEU ruled on the EU principle of proportionality with respect to the imposition of penalties for underpayment of customs duties (including anti-dumping duties) in Member States. The case concerned Hungarian company J.P. Mali, which imported into Hungary bicycles and bicycle parts declared as originating in Taiwan. For context, both bicycles and bicycle parts originating in China have been subject to significant anti-dumping duties for many years and there is a long, well-known history of ci ..read more

Companies importing goods into the EU should be aware of a recent uptick in investigations into alleged circumvention of EU anti-dumping and/or anti-subsidy duties, and, in particular, the implications of such investigations under customs law. For context, in August 2023, the European Commission initiated three circumvention investigations, covering imports of biodiesel consigned from China, plywood consigned from Kazakhstan and Türkiye, and stainless steel consigned from Taiwan, Türkiye and Vietnam. These investigations signal a return of the anti-circumvention instrument, which the Commissio ..read more

In brief The new EU Deforestation Regulation (2023/1115/EU) will impose due diligence obligations from 30 December 2024 aimed at tackling deforestation and forest degradation. The Regulation will require companies dealing in in-scope products to undertake due diligence into the source of a wide range of commodities, including cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm-oil, rubber, soya and wood, to ensure that they have not been obtained as a result of deforestation. You can access a recording of our recent webinar on the Regulation here. Background The Deforestation Regulation forms part of t ..read more

Few companies know all the opportunities the World Trade Organization (“WTO“) offers to resolve trade-related problems or frictions. The WTO’s functioning does not depend only on its Dispute Settlement Body (“DSB“). It has several committees that can be even more powerful than the DSB. Examples are the Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices (“AD Committee“) and the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (“SCM Committee“). This Blog explains how both offer a forum to resolve practical and strategic issues companies are facing. Overview and conduct of the committees The AD Committee ove ..read more

Next to the CBAM implementing regulation adopted by the European Commission on 17 August 2023 regarding the reporting rules applicable during the transitional phase of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) (please find a previous alert by our team here), the European Commission released a set of new CBAM documents in October.  These are in chronological order: Application User Manual – CBAM Declarant Portal on 3 October 2023; New version of the CBAM Communication template for installations on 23 October 2023; New version of the Guidance Documents on CBAM Implementation: for inst ..read more

In keeping with tradition, we are pleased to invite you to our annual Global Year-End Review of Import/Export & Trade Compliance Developments Conference to be held between December 4-7. The conference will provide valuable insights on the latest developments, challenges and opportunities in the ever-changing landscape of international trade. We will kick off the conference with an in-person networking session and panel discussion on December 4 on the pressing topic of “Navigating Trade Compliance Amidst Geopolitical Disruptions to the Globalized Economy,” to set the stage for our su ..read more

The most significant updates to the Combined Nomenclature (“CN”) relate to – amongst others: Addition of new subheadings to account for changes in requirements related to statistics, commercial policy, and technological and commercial developments and modernizing the current structure of subheadings to better monitor particular items, such as: Addition of a subheading for Plátano de Canarias in Chapter 8; Addition of subheadings for prepared tomatoes in Chapter 20; Addition of subheadings for plastic waste in Chapter 39; Simplification for woven fabrics containing more than 85% of silk or si ..read more

Baker McKenzie’s Global Compliance News Blog published “Update: EU forced labour market ban proposal,” which can be viewed here. The post <strong>Update: EU forced labour market ban proposal</strong> appeared first on Import and Trade Remedies Blog ..read more