TradeLane

On April 5, 2016, the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China released a joint announcement (No. 11 of 2016), which published a list of products that are embargoed in trade with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

It was alleged in the announcement that the embargoes are based on the relevant resolutions enacted by United Nations Security Council and the Foreign Trade Law of P. R. China.

Many trade compliance or logistics managers responsible for their company’s importation process have gone through the internal struggle of deciding whether it would be fruitful to apply for a binding ruling from the EU customs authorities.

This struggle might have been less dramatic then Hamlets, but a struggle after all. To add to the dilemma, the rules surrounding obtaining a BTI are also changing as part of the implementation of the Union Customs Code on May 1^st, 2016.

On January 16 2016, the United States announced that they are lifting certain US sanctions against Iran that are consistent with the announcement of Implementation Day and in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The United States Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) released a general guidance document regarding the lifting of US sanctions under the JCPOA.

This week, I have been lucky enough to engage in a round table with some of the most knowledgeable, international customs experts worldwide. As we discussed trade compliance in Asia, EU, North America, and Australia, as well as currently emerging markets, I realized something: these people are MUCH smarter than I am…

I am pretty good at throwing out a smart question every now and then, but as we discussed the worldwide complexities of the UCC/AEO, biomedical/pharmaceutical marking and shipping, and the potential of TPP... Well, it left my head spinning.

How do companies with small compliance staffs keep up to speed with all these regulations?

Did you know that the first football match Queen Elizabeth attended was the 1953 FA Cup Final? Did you know that, during her reign, there have been 12 prime ministers? Did you know that the queen has, during her entire reign, answered around three and a half million items of correspondence?

Obviously, there’s a lot to know about the Royals. They are inescapable if you live in the UK. The Queen is on all of our money; we pay taxes and import duties to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Heck, I even pulled all those facts off of royal.gov.uk.

As a trade consultant, the Royal family is not the only kind of royalty I am interested in. There is also plenty to know about Royalty Payments and how they impact the declared value of goods when they are brought into the European Union.