The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has reiterated its commitment to combating child and forced labor in supply chains, with an apparent regional focus on South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The U.S. government’s continued push on labor violations in corporate supply chains is further evidence that companies should be considering how well their compliance programs cover detection and deterrence of these abuses in their supply chains. On January 27, 2020, the DOL announced that…
China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) has announced several facilitation measures aimed at supporting businesses engaged in foreign trade successfully resume production as soon as possible. On February 16, the GAC issued various measures to strengthen, support and ease difficulties faced by businesses, simplify business registration or filing processes, and help small- and medium-sized enterprises face challenges stemming from import/export issues. We outline several key measures: Accelerate inspections. Customs authorities will aim to accelerate inspection…
Baker McKenzie partners Peter Tomczak and William “Widge” Devaney both have extensive experience in corporate anti-corruption matters, and often interface with boards on compliance related topics. As such, they’ve seen how ESG concerns have trickled up to the board, and how overlaps with anti-corruption mean ethics and compliance professionals in particular are well-suited to support new ESG requirements. They discussed these developments in an interview with Ethisphere editor Tyler Lawrence. As Peter Tomczak noted, the clear…
More evidence that U.S. courts are continuing to shift towards greater accountability for corporations (and associated individuals) for social harm in their supply chains. Although it is too early to declare the ATS raised from the dead, a slew of other statutes on the books and in the legislative pipeline impose growing obligations on companies to both report and prevent forced labor, trafficking and other human rights abuses in supply chains. Bottom line: companies with…