The Mexican Secretariat of Economy recently issued instructions for entering samples into Mexico for the purpose of obtaining a certificate of compliance with Mexican product standards, according to a recent circular issued by the Mexican Confederation of Customs Broker Associations (CAAAREM), as posted by consultancy AJR Comercio Exterior. Importers should declare the samples under Mexican tariff subheading 9906.00.01, and attach to the entry an electronic document issued by the relevant certification body that says the samples are being imported for the purposes of certification with a Mexican product standard, the circular said. A maximum of three samples may be imported for this purpose, or in some cases the number of samples stated in the relevant product standard. Under recently issued regulations, certain goods may not be imported into Mexico without a certificate of compliance at the time of entry stating it complies with Mexican product standards.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Sept. 11 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Sept. 9 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Sept. 6 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency created a new webpage to help importers and customs brokers "to understand a reject message for imports declared through the Integrated Import Declaration (IID) system," the CFIA said in an email. The new webpage provides examples and descriptions of reject messages for CFIA-regulated imports.

A top U.S. Department of Agriculture official, state officials and more than 40 representatives from the U.S. agriculture industry will travel to Canada in September to try to “expand sales” for U.S. agricultural exporters, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said in an Aug. 30 press release. Ted McKinney, USDA’s undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, will travel with several state agriculture officials and 41 industry representatives on what USDA is calling a “trade mission.”

Argentina recently established a “special temporary import regime” for used goods “intended for exploration, exploitation and perforation activities by the hydrocarbon industry,” according to an Aug. 29 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Certain imports under this regime will face an import duty that is “0.5 to 1.0 percentage points higher for each year of age than the applicable [Most Favored Nation] import duty for new goods,” the report said. Other goods are subject to duty-free treatment, the report said. Companies must be registered in the “registry of oil companies” or act as a supplier for a registered entity, the HKTDC said. The temporary tariff regime will remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2020.

The Department of Homeland Security signed a letter of intent with El Salvador to increase cooperation in several areas, including trade, according to a copy of the letter obtained by PBS and an Aug. 28 DHS press release. The U.S. plans to work with El Salvador to reduce “non-tariff trade barriers to promote foreign direct investment, trade facilitation, and customs enhancement,” the letter said.

Mexico is again allowing more time for importers to comply with new certificate of compliance requirements for some Mexican product standards at the time of entry, the Latin American Confederation of Customs Brokers said in a recent circular. For the second time, an additional 15 days have been added to a grace period that now ends Sept. 10 for importers to obtain a certificate of compliance from a recognized certification body. Until the time period expires, importers that have not yet obtained the certificate may continue their current operations unchanged, as long as they submitted their request to the certification body by June 30 and include a receipt number for the request in their entry documentation. As part of this extension, Mexico announced that it will conduct a review as to why certification bodies have not processed pending requests for certificates, the circular said.

Canada's import controls apply to all milk protein substances (MPS) with a milk protein content of 85% or more of dry matter weight if the imports don't qualify for a trade, Global Affairs Canada said in an Aug. 28 message to industry. "If a product does not qualify as originating under the concerned trade agreement, or if transhipment requirements are not satisfied, an import permit is required," the agency said. MPS imports from a NAFTA country, an EU country or other EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement beneficiary, Chile, Costa Rica or Israel "are exempted from Canada's import permit requirements for MPS," GAC said.