Paper cargo control documents for in-bond shipments will no longer be required as of July 1, the Canada Border Services Agency said in a customs notice. "The in-bond movement is now a fully electronic process, in which the cargo will move inland on the electronic Advance Commercial Information (ACI) transmitted to the CBSA at least 1 hour prior to arriving at the border," the agency said. The paper process will remain for re-manifest and abstracts, the CBSA said.
Mexico is extending a grace period for new requirements that took effect June 3 for importers to submit proof of compliance with certain Mexican product standards at the time of entry, the Confederation of Mexican Customs Broker Associations said on its website. Importers that have not yet obtained a certificate from a recognized certification body may nonetheless continue their current operations unchanged, as long as they submit their request for certification to the certification body by June 30 and include a receipt number for the request in their entry documentation. The grace period will last until Aug. 12. Mexico had previously announced that requests had to be submitted by May 31 to qualify (see 1905230061).
Brazil has suspended shipments of beef to China after discovering a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in its Mato Grosso state, according to a June 4 press release from the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture. The agency suspended the issuance of sanitary certificates for shipments to China on June 4, effective for all shipments on or after May 31, the release said. The International Organization for Animal Health has already completed its evaluation of the case and found no risk of the spread of BSE, so exports of beef may continue to be shipped normally to other countries, the release said. The OIE declined to change Brazil’s disease risk status, which remains “insignificant,” the Agriculture Ministry said in another update.
The Brazilian Health Agency will soon begin a 60-day public comment period for a proposal to change the “current good manufacturing practice requirements for medicines,” according to a May 28 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The proposal will follow the guidelines of the Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention and Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme, which covers the U.S., Canada, the European Union, Japan, Australia and South Africa, the report said. The proposal will harmonize Brazilian manufacturing practices with international standards, the report said, and promote “the acceptance of Brazilian medicines in other markets.”
Several Canadian ports temporarily closed May 30 in the latest escalation of an ongoing labor dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association, according to multiple reports. The ports later reopened after the two sides came to a "tentative agreement" subject to ratification, according to Deringer.