An e-commerce platform that will allow traders to more easily import goods from the Middle East and East Africa was launched in Kenya recently, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Nov. 19. The platform will provide a “trading gateway” into Africa through the eight port terminals operated by DP World and will promote trade in “areas including technology, blue economy, transportation, aviation, manufacturing, mining, healthcare and employment,” the report said. The platform was successfully launched in Rwanda earlier this year and received more than 500,000 website visits from African sellers and buyers, HKTDC said.
The Economic Community of West African States, responding to political upheavals in Mali and Guinea, said it will impose sanctions on Malian transition authorities, transition entities and the family members of those identified. The restrictive measures include a travel ban and asset freeze. ECOWAS also said that it will maintain sanctions on members of Guinea's National Committee of Reconciliation and Development -- which staged a coup earlier this year -- and their family members "until constitutional order is restored." The decisions follow the Nov. 7 ECOWAS summit on both countries' situations.
The Israeli government designated six Palestinian civil society groups as terrorist organizations, the Ministry of Defense said. The six entities are the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees, the Al-Kamir Legal Institute, Bisan Center for Research and Development, Al-Haq, the Defense for Children International-Palestine and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees. The groups were designated as terrorist organizations due to their alleged links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Defense Ministry said. It said the groups use their role in civil society to mask their ties to the PFLP.
South Africa recently amended its Customs and Excise Act to align it with the World Customs Organization’s 2022 Harmonized System, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Nov. 2. The change, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2022, will require all declarations to be “in accordance” with the WCO’s upcoming 2022 edition of the HS tariff structure (see 2101220042). South Africa's processing system will not accept declarations that contain codes that have been deleted in the WCO update, HKTDC said.
Egypt recently approved temporary decreases in duties and taxes on certain industrial inputs in a bid to support its manufacturing sector, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Oct. 20. Certain entities and projects will be eligible for zero customs duties, fees and other taxes for imports of “priority inputs” used to manufacture “finished export goods,” HKTDC said. Some companies may also be eligible for eased import customs clearance, including priority customs declaration registration and release.
The U.S. and Morocco recently completed a sanitary certificate to allow exports of live aquatic animals to Morocco, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said Oct. 15. The certificate, completed Oct. 12, will offer “new opportunities” for exporters of aquatic animals, “gametes and eggs of aquatic animals intended for farming, restocking and ornamental uses,” USDA said. Morocco is hoping to grow its aquaculture production sector and “considers it a strategic priority,” USDA said, adding that aquaculture production in the country will soon overtake wild-caught products. The report includes a copy of the new export certificate.
Nigeria recently expanded its list of goods exempt from value-added taxes, which now includes more agricultural, energy and pharmaceutical products, KPMG said Oct. 19. The changes, which were published last month, add various petroleum products, renewable energy equipment, agricultural seeds and seedlings, and raw materials used to produce pharmaceutical products to the country’s VAT-exempt list. Also included are military hardware, arms, ammunition and gas supplied by “gas-producing companies to electricity-generating companies.”
Ethiopia recently revised its customs tariff book, which includes over 8,000 tariff line items for raw materials, intermediate, consumer-oriented and capital goods, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report released Oct. 18. The book now includes higher duties on certain imported goods to “enhance the competitiveness of domestic producers,” USDA said, but also lowers duties on certain raw materials that aren’t available domestically. The changes include tariff cuts for 525 agricultural goods and increases for 522 other agricultural products.
Kenya will fully implement its new Integrated Customs Management System this month, which is expected to improve cargo clearance and allow all customs submissions at a single window, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Oct. 11. The new system, which will be in place from Oct. 22, will also allow authorities to process declarations before vessels dock, which should reduce clearance times by about 60%, HKTDC said. Traders must submit both export and import sea manifests through the new system at least 48 hours before the ship arrives or departs.
Iran will extend its import ban on home appliances until at least the end of March 2022, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Oct. 8. The ban, which began three years ago, has support from Iran’s appliance manufacturing sector, which says it helps local producers. But even though some imports can harm domestic production, the Home Appliances Sellers Association said the law encourages import smuggling in situations where local production can’t meet demand, HKTDC said.