Norway’s Ministry of Finance proposed the elimination of value-added tax exemptions on imports of “low value goods,” Norway said in a notice. Among several changes, the ministry plans to impose a 25 percent VAT on foreign sellers and “online marketplaces” for all goods, except food, valued under about $350, KPMG said in a July 3 report. The proposal would also create a “simplified system” for foreign sellers to register, declare and pay VATs on their exports to Norway, the ministry said. If implemented, the changes would take effect Jan. 1, 2020.

The United Kingdom made several technical changes to its Export Control Order of 2008, the U.K.’s Department for International Trade said in a June 30 press release. Among the changes, the U.K. is updating its list of defense-related products to correspond with changes made to the European Common Military List, the press release said.

In the July 3 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The EU plans to extend its antidumping and countervailing duty collections to the continental shelf and exclusive economic zones of the member states, the European Commission said in a July 3 news release. "Until now, EU customs rules only allowed trade defence measures to be applied to goods imported into the customs territory of the Union," it said. "The rules did not apply to goods brought to the continental shelf or exclusive economic zones of EU Member States, for instance for the exploitation of natural resources such as extraction of oil and gas and off-shore windmills." The new regulations are aligned with major EU trading partners, including the U.S., India and Brazil, it said. Exclusive economic zones are sea zones "over which a state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources" and can be beyond a state's territorial waters, it said. The continental shelf is "the shelf extending from the coastline of the state to a drop-off point in the ocean," the EC said. The EU member states will have four months to "put in place the necessary administrative procedures," the EC said.

In the July 2 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

In the June 28 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The European Union and Mercosur on June 28 agreed to a trade deal that will eliminate most tariffs on trade between the two blocs, the European Commission said in a press release. “The agreement concluded today will cover a population of 780 million and cement the close political and economic relations between the EU and Mercosur countries,” the press release said.

In the June 27 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

Russia renewed a ban on food imports from the U.S., European Union member states and others until Dec. 31, 2020, according to an unofficial translation of a June 24 Russian government notice and a post on the EU Sanctions blog. The ban was originally scheduled to last through Dec. 31, 2019, and also bans food imports from Canada, Australia, Norway, Iceland, Albania, Montenegro, Liechtenstein and Ukraine.

The European Union and Vietnam will sign a new free trade agreement June 30 that will eliminate almost all tariffs on goods traded between them, the European Commission said in a June 25 press release. The agreement will also address non-tariff barriers between the two countries, and will include requirements for customs and trade facilitation, as well as labor rights and environmental protection.