The European Commission has launched a consultation to help shape the next Generalised Scheme of Preferences ("GSP") from 2024. Stakeholders have until 3 June 2020 to comment....more
Business goes on as much as possible, despite the COVID-19 pandemic – and one question is how this affects Brexit. While a "Hard Brexit" was avoided when the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, a common misconception is that...more
On 31 March 2020, the Governments of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (the so-called "E3") confirmed that the first transaction was completed through the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges ("INSTEX"),...more
4/3/2020
/ Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Food Supply ,
Imports ,
INSTEX ,
Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges (INSTEX SAS) ,
Iran ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Medical Supplies ,
Payment Systems ,
Swiss Banks ,
United States
In an effort to secure continued supply of goods within the EU during the COVID-19 crisis, the EU has taken a number of initial actions with a focus on essential health products and food. So far, these EU actions include 1)...more
This is a special newsletter with our selection of key EU customs developments in 2019. It is not intended to provide an exhaustive summary.
...more
1/29/2020
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Classifications of Goods ,
Country of Origin ,
Customs ,
Draft Implementation Regulations ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Fair Trade Agreements (FTA) ,
Nomenclature ,
Tariffs ,
Trial Court Orders ,
UK Brexit ,
Valuation
France, Germany and the United Kingdom, known as the “E3”, announced on 14 January 2020 that they had triggered the dispute resolution mechanism under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) due to concerns about...more
1/17/2020
/ China ,
Dispute Resolution ,
E3+3 ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Failure to Perform ,
France ,
Germany ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Russia ,
UK ,
UN Security Council ,
United Nations ,
Winding Down
Thoughtful business participation in benchmark reviews.
If one or more human rights and ESG benchmarks review—or could soon review—your industry, it may make business sense to participate thoughtfully and/or disclose...more
The strategic value of paying attention to areas that benchmarks assess -
Some companies are skeptical about engaging with human rights and ESG benchmarking, because they question whether human rights and ESG disclosures...more
1/14/2020
/ Benchmarking ,
Benchmarks ,
Business Strategies ,
Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB) ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Data Privacy ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Human Rights ,
Investors ,
Modern Slavery Act ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Shareholders ,
Supply Chain ,
Sustainability ,
Transparency ,
Transparency in Supply Chains Act
What businesses need to know for a strategic approach -
Benchmarks focus on human rights, labor rights, political rights, “digital rights” (human rights in the Internet era) and wider sustainability efforts. They...more
1/13/2020
/ Benchmarks ,
Corporate Governance ,
Digital Rights ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Human Rights ,
Labor Policies ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Sustainability
What businesses need to know for a strategic approach -
In an increasing number of sectors, companies’ operations and disclosures are publicly evaluated by “benchmarks” that compare their performance on human rights and...more
On 17 May 2019, the EU put in place a new legal framework for sanctions targeting malicious cyber activities from outside the EU that threaten the Union or its Member States. The aim is to enhance the EU's cyber resilience...more
On May 8, 2019, following Iran's announcement that it intends to suspend certain nuclear proliferation-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the United States issued a new Executive order...more
5/14/2019
/ Blocking Sanctions ,
Blocking Statutes ,
CAPTA List ,
China ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
France ,
Germany ,
IFCA ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Metals ,
Nuclear Power ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
SDN List ,
Steel Industry ,
Suspensions ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
Waivers
On 10 April 2019, the Supreme Court in Vedanta Resources Plc v Lungowe, determined that a UK-domiciled parent company may owe a duty of care to third parties affected by operations of its foreign subsidiary....more
4/23/2019
/ Contamination ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Duty of Care ,
Environmental Violations ,
Farms ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Jurisdiction ,
Mining Contracts ,
Parent Corporation ,
Property Damage ,
Third-Party Relationships ,
Toxic Exposure ,
UK Supreme Court ,
Zambia
Setting the scene
The long anticipated European Commission (DG COMP) report on "EU loan syndication and its impact on competition in credit markets" (see here) has finally been published. The study primarily focuses on the...more
4/15/2019
/ Anticompetitive Agreements ,
Banks ,
Borrowers ,
Competition ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Contract Terms ,
Duty of Care ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
France ,
Germany ,
Hedging ,
Impact Assessments ,
Information Reports ,
Infrastructure ,
Interest Rates ,
Lenders ,
Leveraged Buyout ,
Loans ,
Netherlands ,
Poland ,
Risk Management ,
Spain ,
Syndicated Loans ,
UK
Mounting pressure on businesses to gain clarity on their social and environmental footprint will challenge corporate operations in 2019. New risks are present but there are also opportunities for companies willing actively to...more
4/5/2019
/ Benchmarking ,
Climate Change ,
Common Law Torts ,
Conflict Mineral Rules ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Human Rights ,
Investors ,
Mass Tort Litigation ,
Mineral Extraction ,
Native American Issues ,
Parent Corporation ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Resource Extraction ,
Supply Chain ,
Technology Sector ,
Transparency
The United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union (EU) will inevitably result in difficulties for businesses using UK content in their products for export under EU Free Trade Agreements, or for UK businesses using EU content...more
4/2/2019
/ Component Parts Doctrine ,
Country of Origin ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Exports ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Contracts ,
Tariffs ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
On 14 March 2019, the EU Horizontal Safeguard Regulation 2019/287 ("HSR") entered into force to streamline the implementation of bilateral safeguard measures in EU trade agreements concluded with third countries....more
EU Customs Policy -
Amendments to the UCC and related legislation -
Key developments relating to proposed and adopted amendments to the Union Customs Code (UCC) in 2018include the following:
In March 2018, the...more
2/19/2019
/ Classification ,
Customs ,
EU ,
Fair Trade Agreements (FTA) ,
GSP Regime ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Agreements ,
UK Brexit ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
On 31 January 2019, France, Germany and the United Kingdom (the "E3") announced the registration in France of INSTEX SAS ("Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges"), which is a special purpose vehicle aimed at facilitating...more
2/14/2019
/ AML/CFT ,
Blocking Statutes ,
EU ,
FATF ,
France ,
Germany ,
INSTEX ,
International Atomic Energy Agency ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Special Purpose Vehicles ,
UK ,
United Nations
Competition authorities around the world typically place considerable weight on parties' internal documents when assessing the potential effects of a merger. Such documents, many of which can pre-date the companies' decision...more
On 21 January 2019, the EU adopted the first sanctions measures under its new sanctions framework targeting parties involved in the use and proliferation of chemical weapons introduced in October 2018...more
The EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 requires Parliament to pass a motion approving the withdrawal agreement and the framework for the future relationship between the UK and the EU. This so-called 'meaningful vote' was due to take...more