With its National Hydrogen Strategy from 2020, the German federal government has presented a comprehensive strategy to boost the market ramp-up for green hydrogen and, thereby, to decarbonize the German economy. In doing so, the German federal government recognized early on that the country would be dependent on importing a considerable amount of green hydrogen, especially in the medium to long term. Accordingly, a global hydrogen supplier market will be established in the near future.
On September 24, 2021 Turkish Ministry of Trade amended the Customs Regulation (“Regulation“). The amendments to the Regulation introduced a simplified procedure of “permitted consignor authorization” for transit regimes and clarified the scope of the crimes relevant persons must not have a final conviction of to open a temporary storage site or a bonded warehouse. The Ministry of Trade also regulated the transition process regarding permitted consignor authorization and site authorizations granted prior to the subject amendment within the scope of the Regulation on Facilitation of Customs Procedures.
The Trade Specialised Committee on Customs Cooperation and Rules of Origin (the “Committee“) is scheduled to meet for the first time on Thursday 7 October. The joint EU/UK Committee was established by the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (“TCA“) with the role of monitoring and reviewing the consistency in implementation of the TCA Rules of Origin across the EU and the UK as well as related enforcement, and to provide a joint forum for discussing related technical issues.
On 15 September, during the 2021 State of the Union Address, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the European Commission’s intention to introduce a ban on the import of products made with forced labour into the EU market. In her Address, the Commission President noted that there are “25 million people…who are threatened or coerced into forced labour” and that “doing business around the world…can never be done at the expense of people’s dignity and freedom”.
On 9 September the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA“) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (“PRA“) published a letter to bank CEOs with the purpose of reiterating expectations of firms when undertaking trade finance activities. The Dear CEO letter addressed both conduct and prudential issues where the regulators consider that improvements are required in firms’ controls. The regulators stressed that “firms need to demonstrate that they have taken a risk sensitive approach to their control environment that ensures the relevant risks are effectively mitigated”, noting that the last 18 months have seen several “high-profile failures of commodity and trade finance firms with significant financial loss”.
On September 24, 2021, the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued two General Licenses—(i) General License 14, “Authorizing Humanitarian Activities in Afghanistan” (“GL 14”), and (ii) General License 15, “Transactions Related to the Exportation or Reexportation of Agricultural Commodities, Medicine, Medical Devices, Replacement Parts and Components, or Software Updates in Afghanistan” (“GL 15”)—to “support the continued flow of humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan and other activities that support basic human needs in Afghanistan.”
On 20 July 2021, the UK Government announced that the National Security and Investment Act will enter into full force on 4 January 2022. The NSI Act creates a new, self-standing UK investment screening regime on national security grounds, comparable to CFIUS in the US.
Welcome to this issue of the Global DR Legal Update, our quarterly newsletter which aims to bring together the most important global developments in litigation and arbitration. If you have any questions, or if we can assist further, please get in touch with Ben Roe or Steve Adams.
The Swiss Parliament has adopted new provisions in the Swiss Cartel Act regarding the business conduct of companies with relative market power, the freedom of powerful companies to set prices, and geo-blocking practices. The revised Swiss law will enter into force on 1 January 2022.
On 18 August 2021, the Medical Device Coordination Group, composed of representatives of all Member States and chaired by a representative of the European Commission, published the guidance on procedures for the translation of labels and instructions for use, as well as the repackaging of medical devices. The guidance is intended to provide assistance to distributors and importers carrying out the above activities by clarifying the relevant requirements, pursuant to Article 16 of the Regulations (EU) 2017/745 and 2017/746 on medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices, respectively.