The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs on April 2 updated its notice on deferring duty, value-added tax (VAT) and other import charges. Updated sections include what can be deferred, payments, guarantees, deferment approval, procedure, statements and duty deferment approval criteria. The information in the notice had not been updated substantively since it was first issued in March 2009.

The European Union on March 29 published a new, overhauled version of its regulations on mutual recognition of goods. Under EU rules, any good lawfully marketed in one member state may be marketed in all other member states, and can’t be denied entry for not meeting regulatory requirements except in certain special cases. The new regulation clarifies the application of the rule, specifying that it also applies to agricultural and fisheries products. It also sets requirements for an optional “mutual recognition declaration” that may be used to demonstrate to an EU member state government that a product is already legally marketed elsewhere in the EU and must be allowed to be marketed in that EU member state. Also, among other things, the regulation sets requirements for each EU member state to have “Product Contact Points” that may be contacted by industry to get information on regulations and technical standards in any EU member state. The regulation is effective April 19, 2020.

In the March 29 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs issued a guidance document March 29 detailing value-added tax procedures for imports from Ireland should the U.K. leave the EU with no deal on April 12, as scheduled. Once the U.K. leaves the EU, import VAT will be due on goods moving from Ireland to Northern Ireland, whether those goods are ending their journey in Northern Ireland or are only moving through on the way to Great Britain, HMRC said.

The European Union published a new edition of its Explanatory Notes to the Combined Nomenclature tariff schedule in the March 29 Official Journal. “The Explanatory Notes to the CN are considered to be an important aid for interpreting the scope of the various tariff headings but do not have legally binding force,” the EU Commission said in an emailed press release. “The latest version is now available from EU Official Journal C 119 of 29 March 2019. It includes and, where appropriate, replaces those published in the EU Official Journal, C series, up to 4 January 2019.”

The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs posted a new video March 28 intended to explain requirements for trading with the European Union should the U.K. leave the EU with no deal in place. The video covers applying for an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number, transitional simplified procedures (TSP), preparing to make customs declarations, entry summary declarations and paying the correct import and export duty and VAT, HMRC said.

The European Union on March 28 issued a report on its trade defense activities in 2018, including antidumping and countervailing duties and safeguards. The EU started 10 new AD/CVD investigations in 2018, with 105 AD/CVD orders in place at the end of a year, “a slight decrease as compared to the previous year,” the report sad. “Investigative work remained at a high level, reaching nearly that of 2017,” it said.

In the March 28 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The European Union has reached an agreement in principle with the U.S. on importation of non-hormone-treated U.S. beef, according to an alert from the Cheese Importers Association of America. The U.S. beef industry had been pressuring for the re-imposition of retaliatory tariffs because the EU had purportedly not been adhering to an agreement to increase market access for U.S. beef by way of a tariff-rate quota for beef produced without growth-promoting hormones, the alert said. The deal would still need to be approved by EU member states and the U.S., and the EU must also reach agreements with Australia and Uruguay as the two biggest beneficiaries of the U.S. inability to fill the TRQs, the CIAA said. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative "has not issued any formal statement regarding the EU-claimed agreement," the trade group said.

The European Union will add the United Kingdom to the list of countries eligible for its general export authorization for most dual-use goods once the U.K. leaves the EU with no transition deal in place, it said in a notice issued March 27. The new regulation adds the U.K. to authorization “EU001,” which is currently applicable to the U.S. Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland. The authorization applies to all goods on the EU’s dual-use control list, with some exceptions such as pathogens and materials, software and materials for making nuclear weapons. The U.K.’s addition to the authorization would take effect on the day that EU treaties cease to apply in the U.K., the notice says.