The main objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement are to create a single continental market for goods and services with free movement of business persons and investments, and thus to pave the way to accelerate the establishment of a customs union in the future.
The AfCFTA agreement has the ultimate goal of increasing the ease of trade and investment across African borders as well as eliminating tariffs on intra-African trade, reducing unemployment, increasing infrastructure development and creating a more competitive and sustainable environment for cross-border trade.
The AfCFTA entered into force on 30 May 2019, and trade under the AfCFTA started on 1 January 2021.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert Webinar: Key lessons from the Russia/Ukraine crisis: Preparing for the next geopolitical event on 22 February 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
After much anticipation since the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement entered into force, on 17 February 2023, the Ministry of Economy published in the Federal Official Gazette an Administrative regulation that sets forth the goods which importation is subject to regulation by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, which prohibits the importation of goods produced with forced labor. The Forced Labor Regulation, which will become effective on 18 May 2023, implements the obligation included in the USMCA to prohibit the importation of goods produced in whole or in part by forced or compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory child labor
On 6 February 2023, the European Council published Council Regulation (EU) 2023/246 on the exchange of information in electronic registers in the Official Journal of the European Union. The (recast) regulation extends the obligation to maintain electronic registers relating to economic operators who move excise goods between Member States for commercial purposes from 13 February 2023.
A series of new rules were rolled out on 13 February 2023 which will make the taxation of alcohol, tobacco and energy products fully paperless across the EU. They are part of a wider expansion of the common excise duty provisions in the EU. The aim of this new standardized electronic system is to alleviate some of the rigorous procedures faced by energy suppliers and small producers of alcohol.
After two and a half years since the issuance of the Regulations on the Unreliable Entities List, the Unreliable Entities List Working Mechanism headed by China’s Ministry of Commerce has for the first time designated two US aerospace and defense companies as “Unreliable Entities.”
By Decree No. 57/2023 issued on 3 February 2023, the National Executive Power cancelled the 5% export refund on exports of lithium, lithium oxide and hydroxide, lithium chloride and lithium carbonate produced in the provinces of Catamarca, Jujuy and Salta.
On 9 February 9, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued Syria General License 23, “Authorizing Transactions Related to Earthquake Relief Efforts in Syria.” General License 23 authorizes transactions related to earthquake relief efforts in Syria that would otherwise be prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations through 12:01 p.m. eastern daylight time, 8 August 2023.
Throughout January and February 2023, Baker McKenzie’s Canadian international trade team is publishing a series of articles focusing on developing Canadian trade compliance issues. This article focuses on developments under Canada’s Free Trade Agreements.
US Customs and Border Protection updated its guidance related to the new Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Region Alert, and announced that it will be deployed in the Automated Commercial Environment on 18 March 2023. The deployment of the UFLPA Region Alert was delayed since it was first announced by CBP in 2022.