Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Italian Government amends foreign investment scrutiny in the context of the invasion of Ukraine on 30 March 2022. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled UK designates 14 new Russian individuals and entities on 31 March 2022. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
Recently the EC has published an update to its “Guidance on non-preferential rules of origin”. The prior version dates back to December 2018. The update mainly provides further clarification of the various assessments that have to be made to verify whether a product falls in scope of the non-preferential rules of origin.
The UK’s Plastic Packaging Tax becomes effective on 1 April 2022 and applies to plastic packaging in the UK that contains less than 30% recycled plastic content at a rate of GBP 200 per metric tonne. The tax is aimed at encouraging the use of more sustainable plastic packaging, increasing the use of recycled plastic and helping to reduce plastic waste. The PPT has been promoted by the UK government as a world leading measure and other jurisdictions are already putting in place similar regimes.
On 15 March 2022, the Presidential Decree Amending the Decree on the Implementation of Certain Articles of the Customs Law No. 4458 was published in the Official Gazette. The Decree introduced notable amendments to the customs duty rates of certain product groups imported via mail, cargo or along with passengers. The amendments will enter into force on 1 May 2022.
On 21 March 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission issued its long-awaited proposed rules that, if adopted as currently drafted, would mandate both domestic and foreign registrants to make a variety of climate-related impacts and risk disclosures in registration statements and annual filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The Minister of Employment and Labour in South Africa has recently published three important legal developments affecting South African employers and employees – the Draft National Labour Migration Policy and Employment Services Amendment Bill, the Code of Practice for Managing Exposure to Sars-CoV-2 in the Workplace 2022, and the Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Harassment in the Workplace.
The Singapore government has released White Paper On Singapore Women’s Development on 28 March 2021, the first whole-of-society review of women’s development. Acting on data collected and analysis of feedback on areas where women still face barriers and challenges, the White Paper sets out 25 collective action plans in five main areas to advance women’s development. Employers should note that the first of these areas concerns providing equal opportunities in the workplace, and will involve: strengthening laws to address unfair and discriminatory employment practices, and developing advisories and guidelines to encourage adoption of flexible work arrangements.
On 3 January 2022, a federal jury for the US District Court for the Northern District of California found Holmes guilty in US v. Elizabeth Holmes, on four counts of fraud based on statements made to investors and business partners about Theranos’ proprietary blood testing devices, their capabilities and uses in the market.
The president of the Philippines has signed into law Republic Act No. 11659 (“RA 11659”), which: (a) removes foreign equity restrictions on most public service companies, except those considered as ‘public utility’ and ‘critical infrastructure’; (b) limits the scope of ‘public utility’ to public service companies involved in distribution and transmission of electricity, petroleum and petroleum products pipeline transmission systems, water pipeline distribution systems, wastewater and sewerage pipeline systems, seaports, and public utility vehicles (PUVs); and (c) limits the scope of ‘critical infrastructure’ to public service companies that own, use or operate systems and assets that are “vital to the Republic of the Philippines that the incapacity or destruction of such systems or assets would have a detrimental impact on national security, including telecommunications and other such vital services as may be declared by the President of the Philippines”.