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…
On Monday 16 October, the Internal Market and International Trade committees of the European Parliament adopted their position on the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation introducing a ban on the placing and making available on the EU market, or export from the EU market, of products made using forced labour (published on 14 September 2022). The following amendments have been proposed: Reversal of burden of proof in high-risk cases – for goods produced in…
Soon, substantial penalties can be expected for non-compliance with the proposed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (“CSDDD”) which oblige companies to implement due diligence processes to address their adverse impact on slavery, child labor, labor exploitation, biodiversity loss, pollution, and environmental degradation. What is new? On 23 February 2022, the EU Commission proposed the CSDDD.[1] Later, on 30 November 2022 the EU Council adopted its negotiating position (“general approach”) on the CSDDD.[2] Recently, on 1…
Baker McKenzie’s Import and Trade Remedies Blog published “European Parliament Adopts New Due Diligence Requirements to Tackle Deforestation and Forest Degradation.” This blog post covers new requirements for companies to undertake due diligence into the source of a wide range of commodities, including cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm-oil, rubber, soya and wood, to ensure that they have not been obtained as a result of deforestation. To comply with the new regulations, businesses will need to ensure…
European Commission adopts proposal for Single Market Emergency Instrument In briefOn September 19, 2022, the European Commission (“Commission”) adopted a proposal that would give the EU sweeping new powers to address shortages and supply chain disruptions of crisis-relevant and strategic goods and services in times of crisis. The proposed Single Market Emergency Instrument (“SMEI”) is the latest in a series of EU measures that will impact supply chains, including new proposals for rules on foreign…
Baker McKenzie’s Import and Trade Remedies Blog has published a new post on the EU’s draft regulation that seeks to introduce new due diligence requirements aimed at tackling deforestation and forest degradation. This new proposal aims to repeal and replace the existing EU Timber Regulation, which imposed due diligence requirements on certain timber products for several years. These developments reflect the increased scrutiny around deforestation and forest degradation. Companies should therefore be prepared to conduct…