The ratification of two of the world’s mega-regional free trade agreements, namely the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), marks a significant milestone for Malaysia in its pursuit of bolstering foreign investments and expanding its trade horizons.
Today’s global economy demands that businesses expand beyond borders, but they face hurdles from customs, as well as regulatory barriers in different countries and regions that make this expansion challenging. The South African Revenue Service Authorised Economic Operators programme offers numerous benefits for businesses trading within the regional market of the Southern African Custom Union and internationally. Such businesses include manufacturers, importers, exporters, brokers, carriers, consolidators, intermediaries, ports, airports, terminal operators, integrated operators, warehouses, distributors, and freight forwarders.
The National Executive issued Decree No. 4,812 on 19 June 2023, which extends the waivers of Legal Regimes for export until 9 December 2023 (“Decree”). Said waivers were established on 9 June 2021 by Decree No. 4,5252 regarding Optimization of Export Processes, which was extended until June 2022 and June 2023.
The Decree established its validity as of 9 December 2023, having a retroactive effect.
On 30 June 2023, the Dutch government announced supplemental controls for exports of certain advanced semiconductor production equipment from the Netherlands. These controls will enter into force on 1 September 2023.
Canada recently committed to heightened enforcement of its export controls legislation on the heels of announcing amendments to A Guide to Canada’s Export Control List and the Export Permits Regulations.
On 16 June 2023, the US Commerce Department published a final rule implementing President Biden’s 2021 Executive Order 14034 on “Protecting Americans’ Sensitive Data from Foreign Adversaries,” to amend the Commerce Department’s “Securing the Information and Communications Technology Supply Chain” regulations, 15 C.F.R. Part 7. The amendments mainly relate to connected software applications.
On 9 June 2023, the Government released Decree No. 32/2023/ND-CP to replace Annex II of Decree No. 53/2018/ND-CP regarding encryption products subject to Import Permit, which also takes effect on 9 June 2023.
Australia’s new Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets will take effect on 1 July 2023. Expanding on the previous registers for water interests and agricultural or residential land, the new Register records foreign interests in a broader range of Australian land, entities, businesses and assets, with significant potential penalties for non-compliance.
The Brazilian Secretariat of Foreign Trade opened, on 22 June 2023, a new investigation to assess whether the Chinese government granted actionable subsidies to its national producers who exported fiber-optic cables to Brazil. The investigation may result in the imposition of countervailing measures and the consequent increase in the cost of Brazilian imports of fiber-optic cables for a period of five years. In parallel, there is another ongoing investigation into the alleged practice of dumping by Chinese manufacturers/exporters of the same product, which may result in the imposition of antidumping duties, further raising the cost of Brazilian importers.
Decree 310/23 creates a promotional regime for the importation of certain types of unassembled vehicles. The purpose of the regime is to stimulate new investments in the automotive industry by reducing the import duties applicable to certain types of vehicles that are imported unassembled.