On 17 February 2023, and pursuant to its obligations under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Mexico’s Ministry of Economy published in the Federal Official Gazette the much-anticipated Administrative regulation that sets forth the goods which importation is subject to regulation by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (Forced Labor Regulation), which prohibits the importation of goods produced with forced labor. Once Mexico’s Forced Labor Regulation becomes effective on 18 May 2023, all three members of the USMCA trade block, Mexico, Canada, and the United States, will have prohibitions and restrictions on the importation of goods made with forced labor.

Join Baker McKenzie for a webinar on Forced labor developments in Mexico, Canada and the United States on Thursday, 23 March 2023 from 10:00 am – 11:00 am Central Time. In this webinar, the panelists will discuss Mexico’s implementation of the new Forced Labor Regulation, Canada’s implementation of supply chain transparency legislation, US forced labor enforcement trends, customs forced labor best practices and supply chain due diligence recommendations.

After much anticipation since the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement entered into force, on 17 February 2023, the Ministry of Economy published in the Federal Official Gazette an administrative regulation that sets forth the goods, which importation of is subject to regulation by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, which prohibits the importation of goods produced with forced labor.

After much anticipation since the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement entered into force, on 17 February 2023, the Ministry of Economy published in the Federal Official Gazette an Administrative regulation that sets forth the goods which importation is subject to regulation by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, which prohibits the importation of goods produced with forced labor. The Forced Labor Regulation, which will become effective on 18 May 2023, implements the obligation included in the USMCA to prohibit the importation of goods produced in whole or in part by forced or compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory child labor

Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled OFAC Issues Russian Petroleum-related Determinations, Updates Guidance on Implementation of the Price Cap Policy, and Amends Related General Licenses on 17 February 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.

US Customs and Border Protection updated its guidance related to the new Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Region Alert, and announced that it will be deployed in the Automated Commercial Environment on 18 March 2023. The deployment of the UFLPA Region Alert was delayed since it was first announced by CBP in 2022.

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the US Department of State, the US Department of Commerce, and the US Department of Energy issued rules adjusting maximum civil monetary penalties under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015.

On 16 December 2022, the US Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued a proposed rule that would treat two additional types of transactions as activities that are not exports, reexports, retransfers, or temporary imports (“controlled events”) (and, thus, not require authorization) under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

On 5 December 2022, the US Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) issued the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) Compliance Program Guidelines. The ITAR Guidelines set out DDTC’s expectations for an effective ITAR Compliance Program and an introduction to controls contained in the Arms Export Control Act and ITAR.

Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled OFAC Issues Russian Crude Oil-related Determination, Guidance on Implementation of the Price Cap Policy for Russian Crude Oil, and Russia-related General Licenses on 2 December 2022. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.