The Governments of Japan and Mongolia have agreed on starting joint public-private research on an economic partnership agreement (EPA).
The first meeting will be held over two days from June 24 (Thu) to June 25 (Fri) in Ulan-Bator, to be attended by experts from industry, government, and academia of both countries.
During the first meeting, the experts will exchange views on topics including bilateral economic relations and items to be included in the possible EPA.
Mongolia don't have any FTA with other countries, this is first FTA trial for them.
Mongolia's economy is centered on agriculture and mining. Mongolia has rich mineral resources, and copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production. For Japan, these natural resource is very attractive trade interest. Among export amount from Mongolia, the mining industry consists of 80% approximately.
2010年6月22日火曜日
2010年6月21日月曜日
Japan put Eritrea as UN arms embargo country group of Conventional Weapon Catch-all
Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ("METI") issued News Release that they amend Export Trade Control Order ("ETCO") so that Eritrea is included into UN Arms Embargo Countries Group (ETCO annex #3-2 in Japanese legal term). The promulgation date is June 23, 2010, and the implementation date is September 1, 2010.
By including Eritrea as UN Arms Embargo countries group, an exporter in Japan need to apply export license to METI if the end-use is conventional military purpose. The scope of goods is very broad industrial goods except food and wooden items. Please be noted this catch-all scheme is NOT for Weapon of Massive Destruction ("WMD") rule, but under conventional weapon catch-all rule which was introduced in November 2008. The enforcement practice is slightly eased compared with WMD, e.g. "storage" of conventional weapon is out of scope in end-use, while "storage" is controlled end-use under WMD catch-all.
Eritrea is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Sudan and Ethiopia, and have an coastline on the Red Sea. The estimated population is 5 millions. As for trade with Japan, the annual export amount from Japan to Eritrea is approx. 400 millions yen (US$4 millions) in 2007, quite a small amount. The main export item is automobiles, truck and bus etc.
(Source: http://www.meti.go.jp/press/20100618001/20100618001.html )
By including Eritrea as UN Arms Embargo countries group, an exporter in Japan need to apply export license to METI if the end-use is conventional military purpose. The scope of goods is very broad industrial goods except food and wooden items. Please be noted this catch-all scheme is NOT for Weapon of Massive Destruction ("WMD") rule, but under conventional weapon catch-all rule which was introduced in November 2008. The enforcement practice is slightly eased compared with WMD, e.g. "storage" of conventional weapon is out of scope in end-use, while "storage" is controlled end-use under WMD catch-all.
Eritrea is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Sudan and Ethiopia, and have an coastline on the Red Sea. The estimated population is 5 millions. As for trade with Japan, the annual export amount from Japan to Eritrea is approx. 400 millions yen (US$4 millions) in 2007, quite a small amount. The main export item is automobiles, truck and bus etc.
(Source: http://www.meti.go.jp/press/20100618001/20100618001.html )
2010年6月17日木曜日
AJCEP - Philippines entry into force on July 1, 2010
On May 28 (Fri), 2010, the Republic of the Philippines made the notification on the completion of its internal procedures necessary for the entry into force of the Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Partnership among Japan and Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Japan-ASEAN Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement).
With this notification, the Agreement will enter into force on July 1 (Thu), 2010 in relation to the Republic of the Philippines.
This Agreement has already entered into force among Japan, Singapore, Laos, Viet Nam, Myanmar, Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia.
After Philippines implementation, the remaining country who don't enter into force will be Indonesia only.
With this notification, the Agreement will enter into force on July 1 (Thu), 2010 in relation to the Republic of the Philippines.
This Agreement has already entered into force among Japan, Singapore, Laos, Viet Nam, Myanmar, Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia.
After Philippines implementation, the remaining country who don't enter into force will be Indonesia only.
2010年6月15日火曜日
HKG implement new control list on June 14, 2010
As reported in this blog on April 30, 2010, Hong Kong update their import & export control list by reflecting recent Wassenaar dual-use items up to end of 2009.
According to the announcement by Trade and Industry Department ("TID"), the revised control list becomes effective on 14 June 2010.
http://www.stc.tid.gov.hk/english/circular_pub/2010_stc04.html
According to the announcement by Trade and Industry Department ("TID"), the revised control list becomes effective on 14 June 2010.
http://www.stc.tid.gov.hk/english/circular_pub/2010_stc04.html
2010年6月4日金曜日
Thai Customs Re-launched Voluntary Self Disclosure Program in May 2010
The Thai Customs Department has recently authorized the Post-Clearance Audit Bureau to re-launch a voluntary disclosure program from 15 May 2010 to 30 September 2010, where the importers, exporters and related parties can audit themselves and voluntarily disclose to the Customs on any potential customs risks or customs offences found from their self-audit.
Those who voluntarily reports to the Customs Department on the potential customs risks and/or customs offences that result in shortage of import duties and taxes, e.g. false declaration of tariff code, undervalue declaration, misuse of customs privilege and BOI privilege,...etc., shall be eligible for a waiver of import duty penalty and VAT penalty and shall only be subjected to the payment of import duty shortage, VAT shortage and surcharge 1.5% per month. Such waiver is based on 2 conditions as follows:
1) The customs risks and/or customs offences are not caused or made intentionally, and
2) The right to participate in the Customs Voluntary Disclosure Program is just 1 time per a company (those who previously utilized the right shall not be able to join this program).
Importation of restricted goods without import licenses and hand-carrying or smuggling goods into Thailand without duly processing import customs formality will be deemed as intentional customs offences and will not be eligible for a waiver of penalties under the Customs Voluntary Disclosure Scheme.
Related parties therefore are advised to take this golden opportunity by making self-audit and declaring any potential customs risks found to the Customs Department during 15 May 2010 to 30 September 2010so as to minimize duty exposures and comply with customs regulations.
Those who voluntarily reports to the Customs Department on the potential customs risks and/or customs offences that result in shortage of import duties and taxes, e.g. false declaration of tariff code, undervalue declaration, misuse of customs privilege and BOI privilege,...etc., shall be eligible for a waiver of import duty penalty and VAT penalty and shall only be subjected to the payment of import duty shortage, VAT shortage and surcharge 1.5% per month. Such waiver is based on 2 conditions as follows:
1) The customs risks and/or customs offences are not caused or made intentionally, and
2) The right to participate in the Customs Voluntary Disclosure Program is just 1 time per a company (those who previously utilized the right shall not be able to join this program).
Importation of restricted goods without import licenses and hand-carrying or smuggling goods into Thailand without duly processing import customs formality will be deemed as intentional customs offences and will not be eligible for a waiver of penalties under the Customs Voluntary Disclosure Scheme.
Related parties therefore are advised to take this golden opportunity by making self-audit and declaring any potential customs risks found to the Customs Department during 15 May 2010 to 30 September 2010so as to minimize duty exposures and comply with customs regulations.
2010年5月26日水曜日
METI Issues Updated Proliferation End-User List for Entities Engaged in WMD
On May 26, 2010, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ("METI") updated the End User List of their website. The End User List is a list of entities that may be involved in the development, manufacturing, use and storage of weapon of mass destruction ("WMD") such as nuclear, chemical, bacteriological weapons, and missiles. The updating of the list is usually undertaken once a year.
The number of entities in the updated list increased from last year's 247 to 272. The updated list consists of 34 new entities, while 9 entities were deleted. The net increase is therefore 25 entities. The new entities added are mostly from Iran and North Korea. There are no Japanese entities in the list. Hence, this list is also know as "Foreign User List". The update list can be downloaded from METI web site.
http://www.meti.go.jp/policy/anpo/hp/law_document/tutatu/t08kaisei/t08kaisei_kaiteikasho.pdf
(The name of deleted entities are also available from the bottom end part of this URL.)
The Foreign User list is not an embargo list but an indicative list for METI to determine whether an export license is necessary or not under the Catch-All export control regulation. The entities listed may have or previously had concern regarding WMD or proliferation activities. Export items which are apparently used for purposes other than WMD related activities may not be required to have an export license. Business are encouraged to closely check the end-use purpose when exporting to these entities to determine whether an export license is needed.
The number of entities in the updated list increased from last year's 247 to 272. The updated list consists of 34 new entities, while 9 entities were deleted. The net increase is therefore 25 entities. The new entities added are mostly from Iran and North Korea. There are no Japanese entities in the list. Hence, this list is also know as "Foreign User List". The update list can be downloaded from METI web site.
http://www.meti.go.jp/policy/anpo/hp/law_document/tutatu/t08kaisei/t08kaisei_kaiteikasho.pdf
(The name of deleted entities are also available from the bottom end part of this URL.)
The Foreign User list is not an embargo list but an indicative list for METI to determine whether an export license is necessary or not under the Catch-All export control regulation. The entities listed may have or previously had concern regarding WMD or proliferation activities. Export items which are apparently used for purposes other than WMD related activities may not be required to have an export license. Business are encouraged to closely check the end-use purpose when exporting to these entities to determine whether an export license is needed.
2010年5月11日火曜日
Malaysia Export Controls
More update of Malaysia Export Controls regulation development.
[Thanks to my friend in Singapore, Jason, for providing this information.]
The new Malaysia export control/transshipment law, which passed the Malaysian Parliament on April 5 of this year.
Called the Strategic Trade Act, the legislation "provides for control over the export, transshipment, transit and brokering of strategic items, including arms and related material, and other activities that will or may facilitate the design, development and production of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems...." The Act does not specifically identify the goods and technology which are considered strategic, though this term may span the EU list.
The Act also requires permitting for shipments of non-strategic or "unlisted" items to restricted end-users, and denies shipments to prohibited end users. Other provisions of the legislation call for extraterritorial enforcement, imposition of substantial penalties for non-compliance, record-keeping requirements, and potential for exemptions. The Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry is now working on regulations to implement the legislation that will be published in the Gazette at some point.
http://image.techamerica.us/lib/fec3167273600275/m/1/MalaysiaStrategicTradeBill2010.pdf
[Thanks to my friend in Singapore, Jason, for providing this information.]
The new Malaysia export control/transshipment law, which passed the Malaysian Parliament on April 5 of this year.
Called the Strategic Trade Act, the legislation "provides for control over the export, transshipment, transit and brokering of strategic items, including arms and related material, and other activities that will or may facilitate the design, development and production of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems...." The Act does not specifically identify the goods and technology which are considered strategic, though this term may span the EU list.
The Act also requires permitting for shipments of non-strategic or "unlisted" items to restricted end-users, and denies shipments to prohibited end users. Other provisions of the legislation call for extraterritorial enforcement, imposition of substantial penalties for non-compliance, record-keeping requirements, and potential for exemptions. The Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry is now working on regulations to implement the legislation that will be published in the Gazette at some point.
http://image.techamerica.us/lib/fec3167273600275/m/1/MalaysiaStrategicTradeBill2010.pdf
登録:
投稿 (Atom)
