On 8 June 2021, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a notice that the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee will hold its quarterly meeting on Wednesday, 23 June 2021 from 1-5 p.m. (EDT). The meeting will be open to the public via webinar only. Public comments are welcome.

Welcome to the June 2021 edition of Baker McKenzie’s International Trade Compliance Update. Highlights include WTO: Covid-19 and TBT Notifications; DSB actions; Trade Policy Review of Kyrgyz Republic, WCO: Operation Pandora, CITES: Notifications 2021/036 through 041, FAS GAIN Reports and more.

On 8 June 2021, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products issued a press release announcing the results of Operation PANGEA XIV. Authorities worldwide have been checking for criminal online sales of medicines in a coordinated operation: The week from 18 to 25 May saw a coordinated worldwide campaign against the illegal online trade in medicines.

On 9 June 2021, the Swiss Government announced that the Federal Customs Administration and the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation signed a memorandum of understanding on customs cooperation in Moscow on 9 June 2021.

The EU Taxation and Customs Union announced that new VAT rules on cross-border business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce transactions will enter into effect on 1 July. The following is from the announcement: Everyone in the e-commerce supply chain is affected, from online sellers and marketplaces/platforms both inside and outside the EU, to postal operators and couriers, customs and tax administrations, right through to consumers.

As part of the UK’s new approach to US tariffs announced on 8th December 2020, the government announced it would be rolling over the rebalancing measures taken by the EU in response to the US Section 232 additional tariffs on UK steel, aluminium and derivatives.

On May 25, 2021, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a document that reopens the comment period for the interim final rule published on March 15, 2021 which amends the CBP regulations to provide for mandatory advance electronic data (AED) for international mail shipments.

On May 26, 2021, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will publish in the Federal Register a document [CBP Dec. 21-09] announcing the quota quantity of tuna in airtight containers for Calendar Year (CY) 2021.

On May 27, 2021 the Department of State published in the Federal Register a proposed rule that would update the definition of regular employee in section 120.39 of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to allow subject persons to work remotely, and to clarify the contractual relationships that meet the definition of regular employee.

On 28 May 2021, US Customs and Border Protection published in the Federal Register a notice of intent to distribute assessed antidumping or countervailing duties in connection with countervailing duty orders, antidumping duty orders, or findings under the Antidumping Act of 1921 (known collectively as the continued dumping and subsidy offset) for Fiscal Year 2021 pursuant to the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA).