International Trade Compliance Update (Covering Customs and Other Import Requirements, Export Controls and Sanc- tions, Trade Remedies, WTO and Anti-Corruption) Newsletter | November 2019 In This Issue: World Trade Organization (WTO) World Customs Organization (WCO) Other International Matters North America Asia-Pacific Please see our Webinars, Meetings, Seminars section for contact and regis- Europe, Middle East and North Africa tration information for the remaining webinars in our 16th annual Global Trade and Supply Chain Webinar Series entitled, “2019: What's Up in Africa (except North Africa) International Trade? Keeping up to Speed on Evolving Challenges,” as Newsletters, reports, articles, etc. well as links to past webinars. Webinars, Meetings, Seminars, etc. In addition, there are links to the video recordings, PowerPoints and handout WTO TBT Notifications materials for the 2018 Year-End Import/Export Review in Santa Clara as well as Presentation Materials from the Asia Pacific International Commer- CBSA Advance Rulings cial and Trade Client Conference (Tokyo November 2018). CBP Rulings: Downloads and Searches CBP Rulings: Revocations or Modifi- cations To keep abreast of international trade-related news, visit our blogs: European Classification Regulations For International Trade Compliance Updates, please regularly visit https://www.internationaltradecomplianceupdate.com/. Amendments to the CN Explanatory Notes For additional articles and updates on trade sanctions and export controls, please visit: http://sanctionsnews.bakermckenzie.com/ regularly. Section 337 Actions For resources and news regarding international trade, particularly in Asia, please Antidumping, Countervailing Duty visit our Trade Crossroads blog at http://tradeblog.bakermckenzie.com/. and Safeguard Investigations, Or- ders & Reviews To see how BREXIT (the UK exiting the EU) may affect your business, visit https://brexit.bakermckenzie.com/. For additional compliance news and comment from around the world, please visit Editor, International Trade Com- pliance Update https://globalcompliancenews.com/. Stuart P. Seidel Washington, D.C. +1 202 452 7088 [email protected] Note: Unless otherwise indicated, all information in this Update is taken from official ga- This may qualify as “Attorney Advertis- zettes, official websites, newsletters or press releases of international organizations ing” requiring notice in some jurisdic- (UN, WTO, WCO, APEC, INTERPOL, etc.), the EU, EFTA, EAEU, Customs Unions or tions. Prior results do not guarantee a government agencies. The specific source usually may be obtained by clicking on the similar outcome. blue hypertext link. Please note that as a general rule, information related to fisheries is not covered. Please see copyright and acknowl- edgements on the last page Please see copyright and acknowl- Ed- Inter- edgements on the last page itor na- tional Trade 8480695-v6\WASDMS 1 Compliance Update Baker McKenzie World Trade Organization (WTO) The International Trade Compliance Update is a publication of the Trade Policy Review: Peru Global International Commercial and Trade Practice Group of Baker The fifth review of the trade policies and practices of Peru took place on 22 and McKenzie. Articles and comments 24 October 2019. The basis for the review was a report by the WTO Secretariat are intended to provide our readers and a report by the Government of Peru. with information on recent legal de- velopments and issues of signifi- China submits revised offer for joining Government Procurement cance or interest. They should not Agreement be regarded or relied upon as legal advice or opinion. Baker McKenzie On 23 October 2019, the WTO announced that at an informal meeting of the advises on all aspects of Interna- WTO’s Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) Committee, China intro- tional Trade law. duced to the parties to the GPA its sixth revised market access offer in the con- text of its negotiations to join the GPA. The revised offer was circulated to GPA Comments on this Update may be parties on 21 October. Chairman Carlos Vanderloo of Canada called this “a very sent to the Editor: significant development” and the parties also welcomed China’s revised offer Stuart P. Seidel while saying they needed more time to review it. The announcement said: Washington, D.C. +1 202 452 7088 The GPA is a plurilateral agreement — potentially open to all WTO members but [email protected] binding only the parties to the Agreement. Each applicant's terms of participation are negotiated with GPA parties and set out in its respective schedule, which contains A note on spelling, grammar several annexes defining the party’s commitments with respect to: and dates-- 1. the procuring entities whose procurement processes will be open to foreign In keeping with the global nature bidders of Baker McKenzie, the original spelling, grammar and date format- 2. the goods, services and construction services open to foreign competition ting of non-USA English language 3. the threshold values above which procurement activities will be open to for- material has been preserved from eign competition the original source whether or not 4. exceptions to the coverage. the material appears in quotes. A senior capital-based delegation from China detailed its sixth revised market access Translations of most non-English offer. China told the Committee that its revised market offer is improved and ambi- language documents are unofficial tious and responds to comments received on its prior revised offer from 2014. and are performed via an auto- China identified the following improvements, among other things: the revised offer co- mated program and are for infor- vers additional government entities and their subordinated entities, both at the central mation purposes only. Depending and provincial levels. It also covers additional state-owned enterprises operating in on the language, readers with the the areas of railways, highways, ports, airports, urban transportation, water supply, Chrome browser should be able to etc. China has further included additional services sectors and all construction ser- automatically get a rough to excel- vices are now covered by the offer. lent English translation. China also proposed that after a transition period, it would apply standard GPA threshold values for the proposed goods and services covered. China reiterated its Credits: commitment to joining the GPA as soon as possible and its support for the multilateral trading system. China applied for accession to the GPA in 2007. Unless otherwise indicated, all in- formation is taken from official inter- Currently, 48 WTO members (including the EU and its 28 member states) are bound national organization or government by the Agreement. Australia is the latest member to have acceded to the Agreement websites, or their newsletters or earlier in 2019. The GPA aims to open up, in a reciprocal manner and to the extent press releases. agreed between WTO members, government procurement markets to foreign compe- tition, and make government procurement more transparent. It provides legal guaran- Source documents may be tees of non-discrimination for the products, services and suppliers of GPA parties in accessed by clicking on the blue covered procurement activities, which are currently worth an estimated US$ 1.7 tril- hypertext links. lion annually. Also under discussion at the meeting were other ongoing negotiations on accession This Update contains public sector infor- mation licensed under the Open Govern- to the GPA, including those by North Macedonia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and ment Licence v3.0 of the United King- the Russian Federation. The GPA parties reiterated their interest in seeing these dom. In addition, the Update uses mate- countries' accession processes move forward. The Chairman encouraged the acced- rial pursuant to European Commission ing members to submit revised market access offers as soon as possible and also en- policy as implemented by Commission couraged GPA parties to engage with the acceding countries. Decision of 12 December 2011. International Trade Compliance Update | November 2019 2 8480695-v6\WASDMS Baker McKenzie New rules of origin initiative to help firms better utilize trade prefer- ences On 17 October 2019, the World Trade Organization announced that it is partner- ing with the International Trade Centre (ITC) and World Customs Organization (WCO) in an initiative which will enable firms to take fuller advantages of benefits under free trade agreements and preferential trade arrangements by helping them comply with product rules of origin requirements. The announcement said in part: Presented to WTO members at a 17 October meeting of the Committee on Rules of Origin, the Rules of Origin Facilitator provides firms with free access to a unique searchable database on duty savings in trade agreements, and the corresponding rules of origin. Users can search the tool by product name or product code, and ac- cess original documentation, including certificates of origin. Availability of this information will help reduce transaction costs and make it easier for firms to claim reduced or zero duty rates under free trade agreements and preferen- tial trade arrangements. The information will be of particular benefit to small and me- dium-size firms by allowing them to access the information through an easy-to-navi- gate system. *** The Rules of Origin Facilitator is the most comprehensive tool of its kind available, covering