On February 23, 2021, Office of the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a notification of continuation of temporary travel restrictions at land ports of entry and ferries between the United States and Mexico from February 22, 2021 until March 21, 2021. For purposes of the temporary alteration in certain designated ports of entry operations authorized under 19 U.S.C. 1318(b)(1)(C) and…
Baker McKenzie’s Global Supply Chain Compliance Blog recently published a post entitled, “UK, US and Canadian Governments Announce New Measures Over Alleged Xinjiang, China Human Rights Concerns”. The new blog post can be found here. The post outlines recent measures introduced by the governments of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada in response to the alleged human rights violations taking place in Xinjian, China. The new measures implemented by these governments include enhanced due diligence requirements…
UK sanctions On 18 February 2021, the UK announced sanctions against Myanmar military generals for serious human rights violations, which come into force immediately. The Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has announced there are 3 individuals subject to immediate asset freezes and travel bans for serious human rights violations by the military and police force (these are in addition to the current 16 sanctioned individuals). These individuals are: General Mya Tun Oo (Minister of Defence)Lt General Soe Htut…
On February 19, 2021, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a notice [Docket No. USCBP-2021-0006] that the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) will hold its quarterly meeting on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. The meeting will be open to the public via webinar only. There is no on-site, in-person option for this quarterly meeting. The webinar link and conference number will be provided to all registrants by 5:00 p.m. EDT…
On 12 January 2021, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced new measures to ensure that UK companies are neither complicit in, nor profit from, alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang, China. See press release here. Under the new measures, the UK will review export controls in order to prevent exports of goods potentially contributing, either directly or indirectly, to alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang. This review will determine specific items that will become subject to…
On January 19, 2021, Office of the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a notification of continuation of temporary travel restrictions at land ports of entry and ferries between the United States and Mexico from January 22, 2021 until February 21, 2021. For purposes of the temporary alteration in certain designated ports of entry operations authorized under 19 U.S.C. 1318(b)(1)(C) and…
On January 12, 2021, Global Affairs Canada announced that the Hon. François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Hon. Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion, and International Trade announced measures related to the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Canada is gravely concerned with evidence and reports of human rights violations in the People’s Republic of China involving members of the Uyghur ethnic minority and other minorities within the…
On December 22, 2020, Office of the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a notification of continuation of temporary travel restrictions at land ports of entry and ferries between the United States and Mexico from December 22, 2020 until January 21, 2021 [incorrectly stated as 2020 in the Federal Register]. For purposes of the temporary alteration in certain designated ports of…
On 10 December 2020, the Department for International Trade (DIT) published a summary of the Trade Continuity Agreement with Canada, The agreement establishes an economic partnership between the UK and Canada, including a comprehensive free trade area. It maintains the effects of the EU-Canada CETA. The UK-Canada agreement covers: trade in goods – including provisions on preferential tariffs, tariff rate quotas and rules of origin sanitary and phytosanitary measures trade in services intellectual property, including geographical indications government procurement The agreement is intended…
On December 9, 2020, the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it had filed the first dispute under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) by requesting consultations with the Government of Canada (pursuant to Articles 31.2 and 31.4 of the USMCA) in connection with Canada’s administration of its dairy tariff rate quotas. USTR’s request for consultations states: Canada’s dairy TRQ allocation measures appear to be inconsistent with several provisions of the USMCA. First, the measures appear to…