In response to the growing impact of the COVID-19 Coronavirus in Europe, a number of countries have implemented national controls to restrict the export of medicines and medical equipment, such as face masks, gloves, and protective clothing.

Over the weekend, the EU Commission reviewed actions taken by Member States and, while it has discouraged Member States from adopting measures which would limit intra-EU trade, it has introduced a temporary export ban on exports of certain medical/protective equipment to destinations outside the EU.

To read more about EU wide controls under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/402, please click here.

Author

Anahita Thoms heads Baker McKenzie's International Trade Practice in Germany and is a Member of our EMEA Steering Committee for Compliance & Investigations. Anahita focuses her practice on global investigations, particularly in the fields of international trade law and data protection. She has significant experience advising on internal compliance programs, accompanying internal and external investigations and self-disclosures in cases of breaches of sanctions, export control and foreign investment review, closely collaborating with the competent authorities. She also has considerable experience in the area of data protection and business and human rights.

Author

Sunny Mann is a Partner in Baker McKenzie's London office and co-leads the UK Compliance and Investigations Practice, as well as the UK International Commercial and Trade Practice. Both these practices are ranked Tier 1 by Legal 500 UK. He has also worked in our Firm's Washington DC, New York and Sydney offices. Sunny also advises many clients on risk matters in India. He advises clients (including numerous FTSE 100 and Fortune 100 businesses) on compliance and investigations with respect to export controls, trade sanctions and anti-bribery rules. The Legal 500 ranked Sunny as a “Leading Practitioner", and as "excellent", with a ‘calm’ and "very practical" approach. The India Business Law Journal also noted that Sunny is "excellent and has deep experience in India". He is a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, the leading institute for post-graduate European studies, where he teaches a course on Corporate Compliance.

Author

Ross Denton is a partner in the Firm’s European Community, Competition & Trade Department in London and member of the Baker McKenzie Japanese Practice Group. He also served as coordinator of the Firm’s International Trade & WTO Practice Group. Ross routinely advises US and Japanese multinationals on EU and UK competition matters and international trade law issues. In addition to his practice, Ross contributes to a number of publications, including Laws of the European Communities and Encyclopedia of Information Technology. He is a member of the UK Customs Practitioners Group and the World Trade Lawyers Association.

Author

Tristan Grimmer is a partner in Baker McKenzie's London office. He is a member of the Compliance & Investigations and the International Trade and Competition practice groups. Tristan joined the Firm as a trainee in March 2004, qualifying in March 2006. He has advised on parallel investigations by authorities in the United States, Switzerland, Brazil, Japan, and has spent time working in Baker McKenzie's Chicago office. Tristan was recently named as a "Next Generation Lawyer" in the UK Legal 500 2017 directory.

Author

Alexander Ehrle is a member of the Firm's International Trade Practice in Baker McKenzie's Berlin office. Alexander studied law at the Universities of Heidelberg, Montpellier (France), Mainz, Munich and New York (NYU) specializing in Public International and European Law. He worked as advisor and member of a delegation of a developing country at the United Nations before qualifying for the German bar. He spent his clerkship with the Higher Regional Court in Berlin, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin and Tokyo as well as an international law firm in Frankfurt and Milan. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the structural changes of public international law and their conceptualization in academic discourse basing his research on the governance of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Alexander is admitted to practice in Germany and New York.

Author

Milena Hoffmanová heads the Prague office Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare group. Her practice covers pharmaceuticals and healthcare matters, compliance, general commercial law, administrative law, as well as data protection and privacy law matters. She studied law at the University of Limerick in Ireland prior to graduating from the Law Faculty of Charles University in Prague in 2008.

Author

Martin Lazár is a member of the Firm’s Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare and Antitrust & Competition practice groups. He advises on pharmaceutical and medical device laws and related compliance issues, privacy and data protection matters, competition issues relating to pharmaceuticals, mergers and acquisitions, as well as contractual and cartel arrangements.