Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng said China is looking to expand imports, lower tariffs and “facilitate customs clearance to better share the opportunities” with the rest of the world, according to a March 24 report by Xinhua, a state-run news agency. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum in Beijing, Han also said China will strengthen intellectual property rights protections while also allowing “foreign companies to achieve better development in fair competition” in China, Xinhua’s report said. "We will continue to relax controls over foreign investment access, reduce the negative list for foreign investment, and allow wholly foreign-invested enterprises in more areas," Han said, according to the report. The report also said China will add a new section to the “Shanghai pilot free trade zone” and introduce policies to build a “Hainan free trade port.”

Chinese Customs seized more than 300,000 tons of smuggled imported trash in a scheme that involved at least 115 suspects and 22 smuggling groups, according to a report by state-run news agency Xinhua. China imports solid waste as a source of raw materials, the report said, but will “phase out and completely halt such imports” by the end of 2019 “except for those containing resources that are not substitutable.”

India will delay its ban on all scrap plastic imports for at least five months, moving the ban’s start date to the end of August, according to a report from the website Resource Recycling. The plastic ban was originally announced on March 6, the report said, as India cited environmental concerns and hoped to boost domestic production. A memo from India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said that the reason for the delay was “to ensure smooth compliance,” the report said. The ban ends previous exemptions that allowed plastic imports by Indian business in “certain designated economic development districts,” the report said. The U.S. exported 294 million pounds of scrap plastic to India last year, according to the report, composing about 12 percent of the U.S.’s total plastic scrap exports.

At a recent Beijing trade conference, Chinese Assistant Minister of Commerce Ren Hongbin said that the country plans to “enhance the quality of foreign trade” to steer out of China’s “complicated and severe” trade environment, according to a March 19 press release from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Ren introduced a broad 10-step plan to achieve this, according to the release, which includes expanding imports, promoting “high quality development of foreign trade” and increasing “structural reform of foreign trade.” Ren also suggested supporting and exploring “new modes of trade,” such as “cross-border e-commerce.”

Thailand extended the timeline for “full implementation” of the country’s new procedures for alcohol imports by six months, according to a March 18 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The new procedures require a “Certificate of Analysis” for alcohol imports, USDA said, mandating that all importers “submit COA documentation or submit samples for COA testing and receive the results before applying for an import permit.” Under the extension, Thailand’s Excise Department will allow COA documentation to be submitted within 30 days from the date of import, USDA said. The extension expires Sept. 14, 2019.

Japan’s upcoming imperial succession will bring customs clearance to a halt, and the arrival of any cargo during the period should be avoided, according to a client alert from the Arpin International Group. The “Golden Week” will be held April 29-May 6, marking the abdication of Japanese Emperor Akihito and the accession to the throne of Crown Prince Naruhito. “Most public authorities, customs offices, harbor companies, and many general companies will be closed during this time,” Arpin said.

Sri Lanka looks set to create an authorized economic operator (AEO) program to provide expedited customs clearance for low-risk importers. The country’s 2019 budget proposal, presented in the Sri Lankan parliament March 5, includes provisions on the new AEO program, as well as on changes to Sri Lanka’s “port and airport development levy,” KPMG said in a client alert. Among those changes are new exemptions from the levy for alfalfa meal and pellets for the livestock industry and goods imported for construction of large projects, as well as a reduction in the levy for certain high-tech plant, machinery and equipment, the firm said.

China is temporarily eliminating import tariffs on certain oil-meal products in an effort to find an alternative for soybean meal, according to a March 11 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The 2019 tariff change was set for this, along with other selected commodities, at the end of 2018 “to encourage oil meal imports as a substitute,” USDA said, as a result of the sharp drop in soybean imports in 2018 because of the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute. USDA defines the oil-related products as “plant-based oil meals,” which includes oil residue resulting from extractions of peanut oil, cotton seeds, sunflower seeds, linseeds, rapeseeds, coconuts and “other plant products used in animal feeding.” China has eliminated import tariffs on those products for 2019, starting Jan. 1, the report said.

The Philippines has begun an investigation into whether to impose safeguard duties on float glass, according to a report from the World Trade Organization. The safeguards would cover “clear and tinted float glass classified under AHTN Codes 7005.29.90 (clear float glass), 7005.21.90 (tinted float glass), including 7005.10.90 (reflective glass),” the Philippines’ WTO notification said.

South Korea recently notified the World Trade Organization that it is considering a new safety standard for outdoor exercise equipment. The proposed regulations would set safety requirements, test methods and labeling requirement, the notification says. It would be adopted no earlier than June 2019, and would enter into force no earlier than May 2020, according to the notification.