Shipping Trade and Transport News 2nd December 2015 

 

Port News

 

Port of Mobasa (vessels in port 25) - 2000 containers lost by cargo theft at Kenya Ports. Traders are puzzled at how the theft is taking place undetected. 

 

Laem Chabank -  The port has plans for a £111 million upgrade to improve efficiency as a trade hub for ASEAN.

 

Trade News - EU Commission Priority -The internet and digital technologies are transforming our world. This could contribute €415 billion per year to our economy and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. 

 

It's time to make the EU's single market fit for the digital age – tearing down regulatory walls and moving from 28 national markets to a single one.

 

TTIP  EU - USA 1st May 2016

 

The EU is negotiating an ambitious and balanced trade and investment deal with the US. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will create new trade and investment opportunities for companies, big and small, and new jobs. For consumers, it will cut prices and widen choice, while keeping the EU's high standards for consumer protection, social rights and environmental rules. 

 

EU aim is to lower and remove customs duties to the US and at the same time cut red tape between the EU and USA

 

Full details are available on request including prospective seller/buyers' agents and distributors. 

AEO/UCC  1st May 2016 centralised clearance to be introucted 2020

UCC - Centralised clearance 2020

This is due to be introduced in 2020.
The scope of centralised clearance and exactly how it will work isn’t yet clear as it’s still the subject of negotiations. However, it’s expected that:

• a declaration will be lodged at an office in the EU member state which granted that authorisation
• the goods will be presented and imported in another member state

The current Single Authorisation for Simplified Procedures (SASP), which can be seen as a form of centralised clearance, will continue in its current form until centralised clearance is finalised.
However, if a SASP authorisation is combined with an EIDR authorisation, the EIDR restrictions will apply from 1 May 2016.
Centralised clearance is available to any operator as long as they hold an AEOC authorisation and meet any additional conditions that may be in place.

Centralised clearance operating models

It’s expected that there’ll be 4 possible models for centralised clearance. These are:

• full declaration
• entry in the declarant’s records with notification
• entry in the declarant’s records with notification waiver
• simplified declaration

Applicable VAT rate

Import VAT will be due at the rate applicable in the member state where the goods are imported, not where the declaration is made.

Self-assessment

This is expected to be introduced at a later date.

HMRC News 1st December 2015

New AEO criterion - Did you know?

The UCC introduces a new criterion of practical competence or a professional qualification (UCC Article 39(d)) directly related to the Customs activities.

In the UK HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) understands it is unlikely that businesses will have a professional qualification so focus will be on the demonstration and evidence of practical competence over the previous 3 years.

This new criterion only applies to AEO Customs Simplifications (AEOC).

Israel suspends contact with EU bodies over labelling of West Bank produce

Shipping Trade and Transport News 30th November 2015

Vessel News -- disasters

M.V. Hebo Cat 15 (off the Dutch coast)

Thevessel salvaged a 11m motorboat however there was no trace of its crew of two and pressumed dead.

Szafir - Abducted ship escorted to Onno.

The vessel has been guided to port by the Nigerian Maritime Administration (NIMASA) for further investigation

 M.V. Fortune Life - Phillippines

11 of the crew out of a total of 19 are still missing after an incident at sea which may have been caused by a load of feldspar which may have shifted.

 

Trade News

Manufacturing sector - UK manufactureres bear bleak outlook as export orders tumble.

CBI’s snapshot of sector reveals strong pound and jitters over global growth are likely to dent factory output.
UK manufacturers have reported the weakest overseas demand for their goods for almost three years as they grapple with a strong pound and a weaker global economy.
The latest snapshot of factory order books and output from the CBI also showed companies expected output to fall over the coming three months – despite it having picked up in recent weeks, the business group reported.

The poll of 458 companies echoes other reports of manufacturers curbing investment and production as a downturn in China and other export markets knocks demand. Manufacturers also say they have been hurt by sterling’s strength against other currencies, which makes UK goods more expensive overseas.

Poor export performance is weighing on the UK economy, as manufacturers are held back by a strong pound and a weakening global growth outlook,” said CBI economist Rain Newton-Smith.

 

Israel suspends contact with EU bodies over labelling of West Bank produce

 Binyamin Netanyahu brands EU guidelines specifying whether goods come from settlements as ‘discriminatory’ and a hindrance to the peace process

Israel has said it is suspending contacts with European Union bodies involved in peace efforts with the Palestinians after the bloc started requiring exports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be labelled.

On Sunday, the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, ordered the foreign ministry to carry out “a reassessment of the involvement of EU bodies in everything that is connected to the diplomatic process with the Palestinians”, a ministry statement said.
“Until completion of the reassessment, the prime minister has ordered a suspension of diplomatic contacts with the EU and its representatives in this matter.”

Meet the quirky Third World entrepreneurs who do more good than the do-gooders

Aid helps improve a bad situation, but entrepreneurship can transform it

British aid is delivered to Vanuatu following Cyclone Pam Photo: EPA/RAF

 

HMRC UCC/AEO Updates 27th November 2015

EU Sanctions  apply to the following countries. 

AFGHANISTAN

BELARUS 

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

BURMA 

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 

CHINA 

DEMOCRACTIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO 

COTE D’IVOIRE 

EGYPT 

ERITREA 

REPUBLIC OF GUINEA (CONAKRY) 

GUINEA-BISSAU 

HAITI 

IRAN 

IRAQ 

IVORY COAST 

DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA

LEBANON

LIBERIA

LIBYA

MOLDOVA 

MYANMAR

NORTH KOREA 

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO 

SOMALIA 

SOUTH SUDAN 

SUDAN 

SYRIA 

TERRORIST GROUPS (FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANISATIONS)  

TUNISIA

UKRAINE

YUGOSLAVIA (SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO) 

ZIMBABWE  

Cargoes include; arms and related materiel- freezing of funds and economic resource. ban on exports of equipment for internal repression, restrictions on admission of natural persons responsible for serious violations of human rights or the repression of civil society and democratic opposition, or whose activities otherwise seriously undermine democracy or the rule 

HMRC Customs changes 1st January 2016.

HMRC Customs changes 1st January 2016.

NEW UCC HS Codes: 

Example:

 

Customs Information Paper 44 (2015)

                 Special Procedures under the Union Customs Code

                                                    (UCC).  

Who should read:      Any economic operator, agent, authorised company and anyone involved in importing goods to special procedures after 30 April 2016.

What is it about:        Main changes to special procedures following the        implementation of the UCC.

When effective           On publication.

Extant until/ Expires Until further notice.

 

Introduction.

Following the adoption by the Commission of the Union Customs Code (UCC) Delegated Act and the publication of the final text of the Implementing Act this paper gives guidance on the major changes to special procedures under the UCC which will take effect on the 1 May 2016.

2. Major changes.

Authorisations

You may continue to use your authorisation until it expires or is renewed/ reassessed by HMRC until 1 May 2019 at the latest.

However, goods entered to:

Inward processing suspension

Customs warehouse types A, C, or E

End use or

Processing under customs control (PCC)

on or before 30 April 2016, which have not been released to free circulation or discharged by 1 May 2016, must be ended or discharged under the new UCC rules.

For example, goods entered to End Use relief will require the submission of a Bill of Discharge.

Goods entered to:

Customs warehousing type D (CW D)

Inward processing drawback (IP D)

Temporary admission or

Outward processing

on or before 30 April 2016, which have not been released to free circulation or discharged by 1 May 2016, must be ended or discharged under the current Community Customs Code rules. For example you may continue to continue to discharge goods under the type D rules of assessment until 31 December2018.

After 1 January 2019 you will need to discharge all remaining goods under UCC rules of assessment.

Full details available on request and how this may affect you.