The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs is expanding the access and breadth of Transitional Simplified Procedures that will be put into place if the U.K. leaves the European Union with no transition deal, as is currently set to happen April 11. TSP will now be available at all U.K. ports if the U.K. leaves without a deal (instead of just roll-on, roll-off ports), and will give importers a longer grace period before they have to begin filing customs declarations and paying duties for goods from the EU, HMRC said in a March 22 press release.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a Venezuelan state-run bank and five related entities, OFAC said in a March 22 notice, increasing pressure on the Nicolas Maduro-led regime in potentially the most impactful move against the country since January, when the U.S. sanctioned Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A, the country's state-run oil company.

China’s reduction in value-added-tax rates will cover a broad scope of Chinese imports and will officially take effect April 1, according to a March 22 press release from China’s State Council. Taxpayers that are subject to the 16 percent VAT rate will see a drop to 13 percent, according to the release, while those subject to the 10 percent VAT rate will see a drop to 9 percent. In addition, the VAT rate for agricultural products will drop from 10 percent to 9 percent. The VAT changes also include an “extension in the scale of goods and services eligible for input tax deductions,” the release said.

President Donald Trump said he has lifted sanctions on North Korea, with that announcement coming one day after the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced new sanctions involving the country's attempts at evading sanctions. The president's move, announced March 22 on his Twitter account, did not specify which U.S.-imposed sanctions on North Korea would be lifted. “It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!” According to the Associated Press, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a March 22 statement that Trump “likes Chairman Kim and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary.”

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control updated its Specially Designated Nationals List while also issuing an updated guide on “addressing North Korea’s illicit shipping practices,” which includes risk mitigation measures and a summary of penalties for violators, according to a March 21 notice. The changes made to OFAC’s SDN list include the additions of three individuals associated with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an update to the SDN listing for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and the addition of two Chinese entities that violated North Korean sanctions regulations. The two Chinese entities are Dalian Haibo International Freight Co. and Liaoning Danxing International Forwarding Co., according to the notice.

Valery Kosmachov was extradited from Estonia to face federal charges in the U.S. related to a "scheme to illegally procure sophisticated electronic components" and smuggle them to Russia, the Department of Justice said in a March 20 news release. The indictment was filed in September 2017 but was only unsealed on March 20, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California. Kosmachov was arrested in September 2018 and extradited to the U.S. on March 14, the DOJ said.

The United Kingdom "will now not leave on time with a deal on 29 March," U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May said in a March 20 statement, expressing "great personal regret" for a requested Brexit delay despite formal approval not having yet been granted by the European Union for an extension.

Mexico is preparing an overhaul of its customs procedures and port infrastructure, according to recent reports. At an event at the Port of Manzanillo, Mexican General Administrator of Customs Ricardo Peralta Saucedo said he is preparing a new National Customs Strategy for presentation to the Mexican Cabinet and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that will set forth changes to customs operations to facilitate trade, said a March 19 report in the Mexican logistics news site T21. Other officials at the event also announced port modernization initiatives.

A no-deal Brexit on March 30 is still the current default outcome unless the United Kingdom can convince European Union leaders it has good reason for extending the deadline, said Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator during a March 19 press conference. “The House of Parliament voted against the withdrawal agreement” negotiated between the EU and the U.K. “and against a no-deal scenario,” he said. “But voting against no deal does not prevent it from happening. Every one should now finalize all preparations for a no-deal scenario,” he said.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 11-15 in case they were missed.