Every Monday we post the highlights out of last week’s FCC Export/Import Daily Update (“The Daily Bugle”). Send out every business day to approximately 9,500 readers of changes to defense and high-tech trade laws and regulations, The Daily Bugle is a free daily newsletter from Full Circle Compliance, edited by James E. Bartlett III and Elina Tsapouri.
We check the following sources daily: Federal Register, Congressional Record, Commerce/AES, Commerce/BIS, DHS/CBP, DOE/NRC, DOJ/ATF, DoD/DSS, DoD/DTSA, FAR/DFARS, State/DDTC, Treasury/OFAC, White House, and similar websites of Australia, Canada, U.K., and other countries and international organizations. Due to space limitations, we do not post Arms Sales notifications, Denied Party listings, or Customs AD/CVD items. To subscribe, click here.
Last week’s highlights of The Daily Bugle included in this edition are:
- EU Council: “Arms Trade Treaty – EU Steps Up Support in Fight Against Illicit Arms Trade”; Monday, 19 Apr 2021; Item #5
- Commerce/Census: “Concordance Files: Data Users vs. Automated Export System (AES) Filers”; Tuesday, 20 Apr 2021; Item #5
- EU External Action: “Chemical Weapons Convention: Statement by the High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell on Suspending Syrian Voting Rights and Privileges”; Thursday, 22 Apr 2021; Item #5
- UK ECJU: “Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs)”; Thursday, 22 Apr 2021; Item #6
- Singapore Customs: “Advisory: Common Compliance Errors Made”; Friday, 23 Apr 2021; Item #5
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EU Council: “Arms Trade Treaty – EU Steps Up Support in Fight Against Illicit Arms Trade”
(Source: Council of the European Union)
The EU will provide new funding for the effective implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
The Council today adopted a decision allowing the EU to support three projects of the ATT Secretariat in Geneva with a contribution of EUR 1.37 million. The aim is to help states parties to the treaty to strengthen their national arms export control systems. Export control systems are key instruments for preventing the diversion of, and illicit trade in arms, and contribute to more responsible trade in military equipment and technology.
More specifically, the EU’s support will enable the following actions:
- training local and regional ATT experts to deliver implementation assistance and reduce reliance on external consultants;
- creating a database to match treaty implementation needs and resources; and
- building IT and communications mechanisms to enable more effective cooperation between states parties’ points of contact and the ATT Secretariat.
The project also strengthens the ATT Secretariatʼs institutional capacity to provide sustainable support to the states parties. It fits within the recently adopted strategy to strengthen the EUʼs contribution to rules-based multilateralism, by promoting global peace and security.
This decision is also part of the EUʼs longstanding support of the ATT. In addition to facilitating early negotiations on the treaty, the EU has provided approx. EUR 15 million for numerous projects aimed at promoting its universal adoption and implementation.
The ATTʼs universal adoption and implementation are crucial to the reduction of violence and human suffering in conflict-affected regions. In force since December 2014, the Arms Trade Treaty regulates international trade in conventional arms, their parts and ammunition, with the goal of eradicating the illicit sale and diversion thereof. All EU Member States are parties to the Treaty. The ATT Secretariat manages the reporting by states parties, their national points of contact, and national control lists. In addition to organising the conferences of states parties and intersessional work, it also administers the ATT Voluntary Trust Fund, which assists states’ implementation of the Treaty.
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Commerce/Census: “Concordance Files: Data Users vs. Automated Export System (AES) Filers”
(Source: Global Reach Blog, 20 Apr 2021)
* Authors: Mayumi H. Escalante and Noel Isom-Horner
Spring is a time of change. Flowers bloom. Trees become green and full again. And the data user concordance files “exp-code.txt” and “imp-code.txt” are updated for the new year when the Census Bureau publishes January trade statistics.
Are you ready to download concordance files? Not sure whether you need the files for data users or Automated Export System (AES) filers? Check out the following to learn the purposes of (and main differences between) data user and AES concordance files.
Data User Export/Import Concordance Files
- Show trade data users how the import and export Harmonized System (HS) codes correlate to other classification schedules, specifically the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC), End-Use, U.S. Department of Agriculture (Ag/USDA), North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), and Advanced Technology Products (ATP/HITECH).
- Include most Schedule B and Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) numbers plus broader pseudocodes that are used to publish summary data.
- Exclude Schedule B and HTS codes for export and import reporting only, which are suppressed at data release.
- Are updated for the new year in March when we publish January statistics, and again in September with July numbers.
- Can be found online at <www.census.gov/foreign-trade/reference/codes/index.html#concordance>.
- Cannot be used for AES filing.
AES Export/Import Concordance Files
- Help AES filers and third-party software vendors update their code tables so that only valid Schedule B and HTS codes and units of quantity for export shipments are reported and transmitted to AES in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE).
- Export files include all reportable Schedule B codes, their descriptions, and required units of quantity.
- Import files include all reportable HTS codes for export purposes, their descriptions, and required units of quantity, and exclude the HTS codes that are not valid for AES. These codes can be found HERE.
- Are updated for the new year in early January, and again in early July.
- Can be found HERE.
Keep in mind: By design, data user import concordance file “imp-code.txt” includes HTS codes that are invalid for export reporting, as well as other classification codes that are irrelevant to export reporting. For more details, the associated structure file(s) are available HERE.
To ensure valid export reporting, AES filers, third-party platforms, and in-house systems connecting to AES-ACE must use the latest AES concordance files or tables available HERE.
Need further assistance?
For more information about U.S. export or import data and detailed trade statistics, visit the USA Trade Online website, email the Macro Analysis Branch at eid.international.trade.data@census.gov, or call 1-800-549-0595, Option 4.
Would you like to receive AES broadcast messages when the AES concordance files are updated with new Schedule B or HTS numbers? Sign up for email updates at <www.census.gov/foreign-trade/aes/documentlibrary/index.html#broadcasts>. If you have questions about the concordance files or need export classification assistance, email the Micro Analysis Branch at <eid.scheduleb@census.gov> or call 1-800-549-0595, Option 2.
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EU External Action: “Chemical Weapons Convention: Statement by the High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell on Suspending Syrian Voting Rights and Privileges”
(Source: European Union External Action, 21 Apr 2021)
The European Union welcomes the Decision adopted today by the 25th Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) suspending the voting rights and privileges of the Syrian Arab Republic due to its failure to comply with the Convention. The Decision is a strong message by the international community against impunity for the use of chemical weapons, in compliance with International Law and International Humanitarian Law.
The Chemical Weapons Convention is a key instrument of the global non-proliferation and disarmament architecture. The EU and its Member States consider that the Decision is an appropriate response by the Conference to the clear violation of the core principles of the Convention by the Syrian Arab Republic, more than seven years after the adoption of the United Nations Security Council resolution 2118 (2013) on the destruction of the Syrian chemical weapons programme.
The Syrian failure to respect its international obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention has been substantiated thorough investigations carried out by the Declaration Assessment Team (DAT), Fact-Finding Missions (FFM) and the Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The European Union has strongly condemned the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Arab Air Force in Ltamenah in March 2017 and Saraqib in February 2018, as concluded by the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team report.
We urge the Syrian Arab Republic to reveal the full extent of its chemical weapons programme and return to full compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. The European Union and its Member States will continue to work at the national and international levels addressing chemical weapons attacks and other atrocity crimes committed by the Syrian regime.
The European Union reiterates its full support to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and underlines the complementarity of its work with the United Nations. We have full confidence in the objectivity, impartiality and independence of the Organisation’s Technical Secretariat and its Investigation and Identification Team.
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UK ECJU: “Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs)”
(Source: UK ECJU, 22 Apr 2021) [Excerpts]
A standard individual export licence (SIEL), issued by the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU), permits the export of certain strategic controlled items.
A SIEL is specific to an exporter and allows shipments of a stated quantity of specified items to a named consignee or end-user. A consignee is an entity who first receives the items. The end-user is the entity which uses the items or incorporates them into another product or a higher-level system. You will need appropriate supporting documentation to get a SIEL.
- Check if your items are controlled
- When to use a SIEL
- SIELs for temporary exports
- What you need to apply for a SIEL
- Supporting documents for SIEL applications
- Applying for a SIEL
- Exporter responsibilities
- How licences are assessed
- Licence processing time
- Terms and conditions
- Customs declarations when exporting outside the UK
- Compliance
- Penalties and fines
- Notices to exporters
- Contact ECJU
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Singapore Customs: “Advisory: Common Compliance Errors Made”
(Source: Singapore Customs, 23 Apr 2021) [Excerpts]
Singapore Customs have detected some common errors made by Traders and Declaring Agents (DAs) under the following scenarios:
- Permit compliance errors …
- Carnet compliance errors …
- Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP) compliance errors …
- Free Trade Agreement Rules Of Origin (FTA ROO) compliance errors …
- Declaration of Facts for Motor Vehicles (DOFMV) compliance errors …
Read the full issue here.