Turkey recently announced several changes to its certificate of origin submissions to customs, according to an April 27 post from KPMG. The country introduced a “cash guarantee application” in its certificate of origin rules, which can be submitted to the country’s customs authority after importation, the post said. The country also announced a process for refunds if the certificate of origin is submitted to the customs authority within six months “from the date of registration of the declaration,” the post said. Turkey may also request a trader’s certificate of origin if the goods are “subject to more than one trade policy measure, additional customs duties ... or when different rates are determined.” If the certificate cannot be submitted, the goods will incur a higher customs duty.

Canada will restart its reviews of applications for permits to export controlled goods to Turkey, Global Affairs Canada said in an April 16 notice. Canada stopped issuing new permits on Oct. 11, 2019. “in response to Turkey’s military incursion into Syria,” it said. Permit applications will now be “reviewed on a case-by-case basis under Canada’s risk assessment framework,” it said. “However, applications to export Group 2 items (i.e., military items) will be presumptively denied. These applications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine whether exceptional circumstances exist to justify issuing the permit, including in relation to NATO cooperation programs.” Exporters who had permits to export to Turkey before Oct. 11, 2019, may now restart exporting under the terms of those permits, it said.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of April 8 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of April 6 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Arent Fox issued an export control reference guide with governments that have imposed export restrictions on personal protective equipment due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, according to a March 27 post. The law firm recently updated the list to include export control measures imposed by Bahrain, Canada, Kenya, New Zealand and Vietnam, and updated information for controls imposed by India, Singapore and Turkey.

The State Department said the top five exporting and importing countries of “pseudoephedrine and ephedrine” have cooperated with the U.S. or taken steps to comply with the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, according to a notice in the Federal Register. The countries include France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, China, South Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

In the Feb. 25 - March 3 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

A Tennessee resident who is an Iranian citizen pleaded guilty to smuggling more than $110,000 worth of goods from the U.S. to Iran, the Justice Department said in a March 3 news release. Aiden Davidson, manager of New Hampshire-based Golden Gate International, used the company to export $100,000 worth of motors, pumps, valves and other goods to Iran-based Babazedeh Trading Co. from 2016 to 2017, the Justice Department said. In another instance, Davidson helped export $13,000 worth of displacement pumps to Iran. In both cases, shipping documents listed the ultimate consignee as a company in Turkey.

The United Kingdom plans to keep a countervailing duty on imports of rainbow trout from Turkey after it leaves the European Union, according to a Feb. 28 notice from the Department of International Trade. But if the EU terminates this measure before the Brexit transition period ends, the measure will not be transitioned, the notice said.

The European Council sanctioned two Turkish officials for Turkey’s illegal drilling activities (see 2001210021) in the Eastern Mediterranean, according to a Feb. 27 news release. The officials, Mehmet Ferruh Akalin and Ali Coscum Namoglu, head the state-controlled Turkish Petroleum Corporation and are responsible for the illegal “offshore hydrocarbon exploration activities,” the EU said.