In the March 20 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

There seems to be some confusion over whether Authorized Economic Operator trusted trader status will continue to offer the same benefits to United Kingdom participants after March 29 if there's a no-deal Brexit, the BBC said in a March 19 report. While some have emphasized that AEO status could ease trade frictions after Brexit, the European Commission said in a notice last year that AEO authorizations from the U.K. would no longer be considered valid in the EU after Brexit. There's been an increase in U.K. AEO applications in recent months, but the U.K. is now urging companies to take part in the U.K.'s Transitional Simplified Procedures instead, the BBC said. "AEO status will only suit traders that regularly interact with customs and carry out high volumes of customs transactions," an HM Revenue and Customs spokesman told the BBC. "For most UK firms TSP will be the most practical system to import into the UK from the EU if we leave without a deal."

In the March 19 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The European Union on March 19 published a new regulation governing the recognition of supply chain due diligence schemes for conflict minerals. Under regulations issued in 2017, EU importers of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold must exercise due diligence beginning in 2021 “to provide transparency and certainty as regards the supply practices of Union importers and of smelters and refiners sourcing from conflict-affected and high-risk areas.” That regulation provides for the recognition of voluntary schemes by the EU that, “when effectively implemented by a Union importer of minerals or metals, enables that importer to comply,” the EU said. The March 19 regulation establishes “methodology and the criteria to be used by the Commission to determine whether a scheme should be granted recognition," and takes effect April 8.

In the March 18 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The European Chemicals Agency reminded companies that they still “need to prepare for a UK withdrawal without a transition period, that is, one without an agreement ratified by both sides ensuring that the withdrawal happens in an orderly manner,” in a press release dated March 18. ECHA has published instructions for what actions companies need to take, such as transferring their REACH registrations from a U.K.-based registrant to a registrant based in an EU member state. “The Agency would like to emphasise that while UK companies can initiate a REACH asset transfer in ECHA’s IT tools at any time before the date of withdrawal, the successor company in the EU-27 should only accept the transfer after the actual date of the withdrawal,” it said.

The European Union and China need to “develop a more balanced and reciprocal economic relationship” in light of China’s “proactive and state-driven industrial and economic policies,” the European Commission said in a report on the EU-China strategic outlook, dated March 12. Echoing recent U.S. criticism of China, the report calls out China’s favoring of its own domestic champions, including when enforcing intellectual property rights and other domestic laws, as well as investment restrictions and forced technology transfer. A more balanced relationship “can be achieved through various means: by working together with China in international fora to upgrade the rules and by making decisive progress in bilateral negotiations, but also by making use of tools such as the recently modernised and strengthened trade defence instruments,” the report said.

Counterfeit goods made up as much as 6.8 percent of total imports into the European Union in 2016, up from 5 percent just three years earlier, mirroring a worldwide increase in trade in counterfeits, the European Union Intellectual Property Office said in a new report. China remained the world’s top shipper of counterfeits, though Hong Kong plays an increasing role as a transit point, and “India, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates remain among the top provenance economies,” the report said.

The Ukrainian parliament recently gave preliminary approval to a draft law creating an authorized economic operator (AEO) trusted trader program, according to an alert from the law firm CMS. If approved, AEO status will give Ukrainian companies a simplified customs declaration procedure, a shortened form of import declaration, priority for customs procedures and permission to use a special traffic lane for truck border crossings, the alert said. To qualify, the company must be a registered resident entity in Ukraine, have no criminal records related to commercial activity (including company officials), have not committed repetitive or systematic violations of customs rules, and be financially solvent. A second and final vote in parliament is required before the bill is passed, CMS said.

The United Kingdom signed trade continuity agreements with Fiji and Papua New Guinea to continue trading on the same terms after the U.K.’s planned withdrawal from the European Union, the U.K.’s Department for International Trade said. “The agreement allows businesses to trade as freely as they do now, without any additional barriers or tariffs. It eliminates all tariffs on all goods imported from Fiji and Papua New Guinea into the UK and will gradually remove around 80% of tariffs on British exports to these countries,” it said.