For the second week of our Annual Compliance Conference, we discussed key trade compliance issues impacting our clients globally. Specifically, we discussed the trade policy response of the US, EU and U.K. to ever increasing geopolitical disruption, global strategies for handling sanctions regulators and enforcement, and key global sanctions and export controls developments.
2023 has proven to be another dynamic year under the Government of Canada’s trade agenda, which showed no signs of slowing over the summer. From May to August 2023, the Government passed into law novel supply chain transparency legislation and introduced amendments and legislative proposals that are impacting, or will impact, compliance with Canadian customs, export controls, and economic sanctions legislation.
Watch the companion videos highlighting our compliance tips in relation to developments in Canadian customs, sanctions, export controls, and forced labor laws.
This is the 20th anniversary edition of the Global Post-Acquisition Integration Handbook, which since its first publication in 2003 has served as a practical reference tool for any company contemplating, or currently executing, a multinational business acquisition and integration. Key topics such as tax, corporate and employment law are considered, and regional comparison tables summarize the main aspects of integrations in more than 30 jurisdictions. Since our last update in 2017, there has been a great deal of change in the global legal and business landscape, hence this current edition includes new content on recent legal developments in the areas of compliance and risk management (including antitrust, bribery, sanctions and customs), foreign investment review, privacy and data protection.
On 21 September 2023, Canada announced amendments to the Special Economic Measures (Haiti) Regulations (the “Regulations”) in response to “acts of significant corruption”. These amendments list an additional three individuals under the Schedule of the Regulations and took effect on 20 September 2023. This follows Canada’s appointment of a new ambassador of Canada to Haiti, André François Giroux, on 18 September 2023.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled US issues new sanctions designations related to Russia and Iranian drones, signaling continuously increasing risks on 21 September 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
On 14 September 2023, Canada announced further amendments to the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations (the “Regulations”) in an effort to impose costs on the Iranian regime for gross and systemic human rights violations. These amendments list an additional six individuals under Schedule 1 of the Regulations and is the 14th set of amending regulations issued by Canada since October 2022. As of the most recent amendments, Canada has sanctioned 176 Iranian individuals and 192 Iranian entities.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Wagner is proscribed by the UK government on 15 September 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled UK: General Trade Licence (Legal Advisory Services) relating to UK Russia sanctions has been issued on 21 August 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
On August 14, 2023, the US State Department, the Labor Department, and the Commerce Department issued a business advisory (“Business Advisory”) highlighting key risks for companies operating in South Sudan.
While it does not impose new legal obligations on companies, the Business Advisory highlights the fact that list-based sanctions remain in force targeting certain South Sudanese persons including designations under the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, and the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List.
In the realm of international trade, the anti-dumping instrument plays a crucial role in safeguarding domestic industries against unfair trading practices. Navigating the intricate landscape of anti-dumping procedures across various jurisdictions requires an understanding of each jurisdiction’s rules and processes. To help further that understanding, the Baker McKenzie global trade remedies team has put together a comparative table of anti-dumping procedures in five key anti-dumping jurisdictions: the European Union, the United States, Brazil, China, and Japan.