The UK government has recently published further information about its proposed Plastic Packaging Tax that will apply to plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled plastic content from 1 April 2022. This latest information is intended to help businesses prepare while the relevant primary legislation, the Finance Bill 2021, is considered by Parliament.
In brief On 10 March 2021, the European Parliament adopted a legislative initiative report (504 votes in favour, 79 against and 112 abstentions) setting out recommendations to the European Commission (EC) on corporate due diligence and accountability, including a draft directive. The report proposes the introduction of a mandatory corporate due diligence obligation…
On 22 March 2021, the UK Government added four individuals and one entity to the Global Human Rights financial sanctions regime, in relation to alleged human rights violations taking place in Xinjiang, China. Four Chinese government officials and a Xinjiang security body have been added to the UK sanctions list and to the…
On 22 March 2021, the EU imposed restrictive measures on eleven individuals and four entities in relation to alleged human rights violations, including: four individuals and one company with links to the large-scale arbitrary detentions of Uyghurs in Xinjiang; two individuals and one company in the DPRK, responsible for implementing repressive security…
Further to our previous blog post, the EU has responded to the recent military coup in Myanmar with restrictive measures on eleven individuals. This adds to pre-existing restrictive measures that have been in place since April 2018, as detailed in our previous blog post. These measures included an embargo on arms and equipment that…
On 10 December 2020, the European Commission published its proposal for a new Sustainable Batteries Regulation (“Regulation”), as part of its wider strategy for a climate-neutral, resource-efficient EU economy. The draft legislative proposal aims to ensure that all batteries placed on the EU market are sustainable, circular and safe, by introducing specific requirements across different stages of the product life cycle as well as new CE marking requirements for batteries. It represents a sweeping overhaul of the existing regulatory framework for batteries in the EU, with potentially significant implications for manufacturers, producers, importers and distributors of batteries and products containing batteries.
On 12 January 2021, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced new measures to ensure that UK companies are neither complicit in, nor profit from, alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang, China. See press release here. Under the new measures, the UK will review export controls in order to prevent exports of…
The UK Government published a notice to exporters on 4 August 2020, stating that the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) has removed Hong Kong as a permitted destination from 22 open general licences, including: 20 open general export licences (OGELs); 1 open general transhipment licence (OGTL); and 1 open general…