February 2024

In SUPPLY CHAIN

New EPA PFAS Reporting Rule Requires Supply Chain Diligence for Article Importers and Chemical Manufacturers Looking Back to 2011

February 26, 2024 by Jessica Mitchell Wicha 4 Mins Read

In October 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released a final rule imposing a one-time reporting requirement that will require certain companies to assess their supply chain to determine if they have manufactured or imported per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) or imported any articles containing PFAS dating back to 2011. This PFAS Reporting Rule is just the latest regulatory development related to PFAS, which are a group of thousands of synthetic chemicals that have…

In Forced Labor

EU to Ban Products made with Forced Labour

February 5, 2024 by Jessica Mutton, Olof Johannesson and Johanna Asplund 2 Mins Read

The EU has held political talks on a law that will ban the sale on the EU market of products made with forced labour, as well as the export of such products from the EU. On 22 January 2024, the EU Council and Parliament held negotiations to agree the final text of the regulation, the proposal for which was published by the EU Commission in September 2022. The Committee on International Trade and the Committee on Internal…

In SUPPLY CHAIN

Supply Chain Due Diligence in the EU and Germany: Navigating the Evolving Landscape

February 1, 2024 by Anahita Thoms LL.M., Dr. Alexander Ehrle LL.M. (NYU), Kimberley Fischer and Caroline Walka 6 Mins Read

The EU economy is linked to millions of workers worldwide through global supply chains. This imposes both a responsibility and an opportunity for EU companies to positively impact workers’ rights and environmental standards. In early 2023, Germany took a step towards responsible supply chains with the new Act on Supply Chain Due Diligence (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz “), as covered in our earlier post. Tomorrow, (Friday, 9 February 2024) the EU Member States will vote in the COREPER…