The Brazilian federal government published on 10 March: (a) Federal Law No. 14,124/2021, for providing for exceptional measures related to the acquisition of vaccines and other services related to COVID-19; and (b) Federal Law No. 14,125/2021, for providing for liability and adverse events of post-vaccination against COVID-19, and for the acquisition and distribution of vaccines by private entities and federative entities (state or municipality).
With Judgment No. 1455 dated 17 February 2021 the Council of State upheld the decision of a contracting authority not to award a public tender for the supply of antiseptics and disinfectants where the only valid offer was found to have a value higher than that identified through a comparative survey of the prices of goods in the healthcare sector.
The Access to Public Information Agency has issued a communication establishing the criteria to be followed for the processing of personal data of individuals who have been vaccinated. Additionally, the agency highlighted the approach communicated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which states that governments must guarantee transparency when establishing the criteria used to determine priority recipients of the vaccine and also ensure that it is widely communicated to the population.
With Resolution No. 166 of 10 February 2021, the Italian Medicine Agency (AIFA) specified the criteria for inclusion in the transparency list of off-patent drugs that have the same composition in terms of active ingredients, as well as the same pharmaceutical form, administration route, mode of release, number of posological units and dose units.
With a press release dated 10 February 2021, the Italian Medicine Agency (AIFA) launched a public consultation to collect comments, observations and suggestions on the draft contract for non-profit clinical trials on medicines.
Welcome to Baker McKenzie’s new Labor and Employment video chat series for US employers. Our lawyers will provide quick, practical tips on today’s most pressing issues for US employers navigating the new normal.  The videos complement our blog, The Employer Report, which provides written legal updates and practical insights about the latest labor and employment issues affecting US multinationals, at both the domestic and global level.
Please click below to watch the video chats and be sure to let us know if there are additional topics you’d like us to address.
Corporates interested in the degree of regulatory oversight likely to operate in the UK post Brexit will be watching the ongoing review of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) with interest. It may signal a dilution of the protections to individual rights contained in the HRA, including the commitments to observe rights in legislation and operation of public functions, as well as the ability to challenge failures to do so via the courts.
On 1 February 2021, FINRA issued its 2021 Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring Program (“FINRA Report”) and a bit more than a month later, the SEC’s recently renamed Division of Examinations issued its own 2021 Examination Priorities (“Exam Priorities”). Each of these documents is quite long, with the FINRA report at 44 pages and the Exam Priorities document at 36 pages, and although there are some differences in focus and scope, we did find some common themes, which we have chosen to highlight in what we hope will be a helpful summary.
On 9 March 2021, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 316/QD-TTg, which takes immediate effect, to allow a pilot program for mobile money service (MMS), under which telecommunication accounts can be used to make payment for small value transactions. The pilot program will run for two years from the first enterprise being approved to pilot the MMS, and the result of the pilot program will be used by regulators to design concrete legislation.
The MMS pilot program is designed to encourage financial inclusion and promote a cashless society, and rural, mountainous and remote areas will be prioritized for implementation. MMS can only be provided for payment of legal domestic transactions in Vietnamese dong, and payment for goods and services provided on a cross-border basis is not allowed.
The Czech government has extended the obligatory testing of employees to employers employing between 10 and 49 employees. Please find below answers to the most common questions related to the testing.