Canada will be pushing back the planned transition to the Canadian Export Reporting System (CERS), a Canada Border Services Agency spokeswoman said. "We can confirm that the Canadian Automated Export Declaration (CAED) decommissioning date has been extended from June 30, 2020 to September 30, 2020," she said. The agency said it "first notified clients of this extension via the email notification." According to Universal Logistics, "paper-based reporting, via the B13A - Export Declaration Form, will no longer be permitted as of June 30 2020," the company said on its website. "Anyone presently using the paper reporting process will have to start using CERS on June 30, 2020. However, anyone who now uses CAED will have until September 30, 2020 to switch to CERS."
Brazil expanded the scope of imports subject to duty-free treatment to aid in the COVID-19 pandemic response, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said in an April 20 report. The measure, which eliminated duties for postal and courier shipments on a “broad range of products,” will last through Sept. 30, the HKTDC said. The measure includes an exemption on taxes for certain “industrial products.”
Canada will restart its reviews of applications for permits to export controlled goods to Turkey, Global Affairs Canada said in an April 16 notice. Canada stopped issuing new permits on Oct. 11, 2019. “in response to Turkey’s military incursion into Syria,” it said. Permit applications will now be “reviewed on a case-by-case basis under Canada’s risk assessment framework,” it said. “However, applications to export Group 2 items (i.e., military items) will be presumptively denied. These applications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine whether exceptional circumstances exist to justify issuing the permit, including in relation to NATO cooperation programs.” Exporters who had permits to export to Turkey before Oct. 11, 2019, may now restart exporting under the terms of those permits, it said.
Costa Rica introduced restrictions on exports of certain medical products due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an April 14 post by KPMG. The restrictions, which took effect April 10, apply to mono glasses, N95 masks, disposable surgical masks, nitrile gloves and disposable robes, the post said. The restrictions do not apply to companies located in free-trade zones.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who last week said that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is not sympathetic to auto industry complaints about U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement implementation, said that after talking to Lighthizer again, he has a different view. Lawmakers recently asked the USTR to delay the USMCA rules of origin requirements (see 2004130035).
The delayed due dates for customs duties in Canada don't apply to debts due before March 25, the Canada Border Services Agency said in an April 11 email. “Debt due before March 25, 2020 is payable on the due date identified on the” Statement of Accounts, it said. “Debt due on or after March 25 2020, is payable on June 30, 2020. Only debt due on and after March 25, 2020 is eligible for the June extension,” it said. The CBSA recently extended the due date for regular customs duties to June 30 (see 2003270053).