The European Union is amending its regulations on plant and animal health and protection to add new requirements for border controls on hay, straw and composite foods, it said in a notice published in the March 25 Official Journal. Specifically, the EU is amending a list of categories of goods subject to “official controls, at the border control post of first arrival into the Union,” to include “hay and straw and foodstuffs containing both products of plant origin and processed products of animal origin (‘composite products’),” the notice said. The changes apply from Dec. 14, 2019.

The European Union is making several changes to its customs regulations that will take effect in 2020, according to a notice published March 25 in the EU Official Journal. Among other amendments to the EU’s Union Customs Code, temporary storage will be added to the list of customs procedures covered by penalty “extinguishment” provisions, timelines will be changed for invalidating certain customs declarations, and new duty-free provisions will be added for certain goods exported for repair or alteration.

In the March 22 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

A recently adopted EU directive on unfair practices in the food trade will allow U.S. exporters to benefit while adding some compliance requirements, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report. The directive, which was adopted March 12, "forbids certain commercial practices such as late payments for perishable food products or last minute order cancellations," USDA said. "U.S. companies exporting food and agricultural
products to the EU are eligible to benefit from the Directive’s safeguards; U.S. companies will also have to comply with the same rules as European companies, e.g., the Directive forbids unilateral contract changes for perishable goods," USDA said.

Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development recently held a workshop on the use of blockchain technology for supply chain traceability in the textiles and apparel sector, it said in a press release. That comes as part of the early stages of a pilot program to examine the advantages of blockchain, including for certification to consumers of the provenance of textiles and apparel, anti-counterfeiting efforts, and to guarantee the social and environmental sustainability of “Made in Italy” goods, the ministry said. The pilot will include an exploration and design phase, with private industry included in discussions, and will end with a study on the results of the exercise. Among initiatives included in a presentation from the workshop were the tracing of raw cotton and the tracking of products from a luxury goods maker.

Exports of urea and ammonium nitrate from the U.S. to the European Union could eventually face antidumping and countervailing duty requirements as of March 22, after the EU published a notice the previous day directing member state customs authorities to “register” any of their imports of the product. In a procedure similar to “critical circumstances” in the U.S., EU authorities determined that U.S. exporters had been increasing exports after AD/CV duty investigations on urea and ammonium nitrate were launched in August 2018, in an effort to get in as much product as possible before duties take effect. As a result of the registration requirement, should the EU apply AD and CV duties in its final determination, any duties will be retroactive to the date the registration requirements began, i.e., March 22, 2019. The registration requirements also apply to Russia and Trinidad and Tobago.

Once importers and exporters in the United Kingdom get a U.K. Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number, it can take 48 hours before it can be used to make declarations in the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system, HM Revenue & Customs said in an update to its guidance on obtaining a UK EORI number. All importers and exporters in the UK will be required to have a U.K. EORI number assigned by HMRC to import or export into or out of the U.K. if the country leaves the EU without a transition deal in place, including for imports and exports with the EU, HMRC has said.

In the March 21 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The European Union issued a new guidance document detailing documentation that may be used as proof of legal acquisition or importation for protected wildlife. The proof may be required when a live animal listed on the EU’s list of protected species is being exported or re-exported, or otherwise sold or used for commercial purposes. For imported live animals listed in Annex B of the EU’s protected wildlife list (i.e., generally species listed in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Appendix II), minimum documentation includes a copy of the import permit with customs endorsement or, if the applicable party is not the importer, either an original copy of the permit handed over by the importer or, if not available, information including the species, details on import permits and the animal’s origin, a detailed description of the animal and an original signature and stamp of the last seller, among other things, the guidance said.

The European Union is implementing new criteria for screening foreign investment in the EU that includes effects on critical technologies and dual-use items defined in EU export control regulations, it said in a notice issued March 21. The regulation mirrors U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) requirements currently being implemented that relate to “emerging technologies” as defined in Bureau of Industry and Security export control regulations. Specific technologies named in the new EU regulation include artificial intelligence, robotics, semiconductors, cybersecurity, aerospace, defence, energy storage, quantum and nuclear technologies as well as nanotechnologies and biotechnologies.