Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Australia adopts further sanctions against Russia on 27 February 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
On 24 February 2023, Malaysia’s Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim unveiled the Malaysian Budget 2023, themed “Building Malaysia Madani.” This is the first budget introduced by the new Unity Government, and at RM388.1 billion, it is the largest expansionary budget in the country’s history. The MADANI budget is a testament to the Government’s commitment to a reform agenda that aims to drive economic recovery, boost tax revenue, promote good governance, and provide care for the people.
On 20 February 2023, the Health Sciences Authority announced that it had seized over 737,000 units of illegal health products worth SGD 640,000 in 2022 through enforcement raids and covert purchases. Illegal health products include unregistered or counterfeit health products, as well as products with potent medicinal ingredients and/or banned substances illegally added to them.
On 15 November 2022, the National Assembly of Vietnam passed the new law on anti-money laundering which will replace the current law from 1 March 2023. Reporting entities as covered in the new law should take into account certain key changes in anti-money laundering regulations.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Japan announces further sanctions against Russia on 28 February 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
As part of the government’s efforts to improve the visibility of medical devices security, raise overall cyber hygiene levels and better secure Singapore’s cyberspace, the Cybersecurity Labelling Scheme for Medical Devices was announced in 2022.
Our Asia Pacific Employment & Compensation team is pleased to share our quarterly update, which highlights key employment law changes across the Asia Pacific region in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department has released its long-awaited report on its review of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), which proposes widespread amendments to Australia’s flagship privacy legislation. Stakeholders have until 31 March 2023 to provide feedback to the government on the proposals.
From end-2023, freshly prepared beverages with high sugar and saturated fat content will be required to display ‘Nutri-Grade’ labels. The ‘Nutri-Grade’ labelling requirements that presently apply to retail settings will also be extended to apply to non-retail settings such as workplaces, schools and healthcare institutions.
On 13 February 2023, the Singapore Food Agency published a media release in relation to a licensed food importer’s failure to arrange for the inspection, examination and certification of its imported food consignments. The food importer proceeded to sell the imported food consignments prior to the inspections and was fined SGD 13,500 by the court.