In the period between 2020 and 2022, the new Law on Environmental Protection and its guiding Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP were promulgated, providing a fundamental legal framework for extended producer responsibility (EPR). EPR-related regulations impose a number of obligations on manufacturers and importers of certain types of products and packaging in Vietnam. Nonetheless, the EPR legal framework is not yet complete.
The “provision or acceptance of gift policy” is a key compliance principle in the governmental sector, as reflected in several key pieces of legislation. On 13 January 2023, the Office of the Prime Minister issued the Regulation on the Provision or Acceptance of Gift of Governmental Officials, B.E. 2565 (2022), which came into effect on 14 January 2023. This regulation updates and strengthens the policy on the provision or acceptance of gifts for the governmental sector. The regulation applies to all government officials, including but not limited to officials, staff, and employees of government agencies and state-owned enterprises.
In December 2022, the Indonesian Minister of Finance issued a new regulation on self-consumed imported goods, i.e., MOF Regulation No. 190/PMK.04/2022, on the Transfer of Self-Consumed Imported Goods, to meet the need for a more dynamic regulatory system in the trade sector. This regulation is designed to promote trade and economic growth in Indonesia by providing new import facilities, namely: (i) new import mechanisms for digital goods; (ii) new requirements to submit supporting customs documents; (iii) new requirements for non-MITA/AEO importers to obtain a registration number; (iv) new requirements for physical inspection of self-consumed imported goods; (v) new formulae to calculate import duties, excises and taxes; and (iv) new provisions for transferring imported goods that are subject to intellectual property rights requirements.
The P2SK Law introduces the concept of financial instrument managers and trust fund managers. Both are designed as specific purpose entities licensed by Otoritas Jasa Keuangan and established to perform asset securitization and/or trustee fund management activities. The government expects the existence of SPVs to contribute to financial instrument diversification. Trustees, on the other hand, are regulated with the aim of increasing participation by financial market players and bringing about improvement in disclosure and good corporate governance regulations.
In May 2022, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) was launched between Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the US and Vietnam. On account of its specified focus on labor standards and issues, IPEF is likely to have an ongoing impact on labor regulations and trends among partner countries, including Vietnam.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Taiwan expands the list of export control items to Russia and Belarus on 13 January 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
The implementation of Pillar 2, a principal rule of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development’s 15% global minimum tax proposal, has been debated for several years. Recently, Japan took a firm step towards affirming its adoption of Pillar 2 when the country outlined its 2023 Tax Reform Package, which included the implementation of the 15% global minimum tax. The Package also introduced an Income Inclusion Rule that in broad terms, aligns with the Global Anti-Base Erosion (GloBE) Model Rules, expected to become effective in 2024. This affirmative step by Japan puts some pressure on other states that have committed to implementing the GloBE rules, particularly in the European Union (EU), the United States (US) and South Africa.
The New Criminal Code became the first piece of legislation passed into Law in 2023 and was promulgated on 2 January as Law No. 1 of 2023. In the next three years, the New Criminal Code will replace the 100-year old criminal code currently in place. The New Criminal Code changes the landscape of the penal code in the field of digital information, bribery and corruption, and money laundering related crimes.
The National Privacy Commission issued Circular No. 2022-04 on 5 December 2022, which sets out the registration framework of Data Protection Officers and Data Processing Systems. Under the Circular, personal information controllers and personal information processors operating in the Philippines are required to register with the NPC as long as they meet any of the conditions for registration. The Circular took effect on 11 January 2023.
The Government of Indonesia issued Government Regulation in lieu of Law No. 2 of 2022 on Job Creation on 30 December 2022 (“Job Creation GRL”). This opens the second act of the Omnibus Law following the scrutiny by the Constitutional Court of the formalities in the creation of the original Job Creation Law which was issued in 2020. Content-wise, the 1,117-page Job Creation GRL is a non-identical twin sibling of the original Job Creation Law with substantive changes on halal certification, employment, taxation, and regional government as well as some non-substantive changes in other sectors such as water resources.