North America: International Law

Much as was anticipated, the European Commission (the Commission) announced its long-awaited proposals on Jan. 25, 2012, on what are likely to be viewed as drastic changes to data protection law in Europe. The aim of the proposals is to make EU privacy laws fit for the 21st century, and they seek to both change the system and increase penalties for breach, with fines of up to 2% of a corporation's annual global turnover.

The European Union’s rules on government procurement have traditionally been admirably open and non-discriminatory, with none of the "Buy Local" preferences found elsewhere in the world.

In December 2009, European Directive 2009/136/EC (the Directive) entered into force requiring all countries of the European Union (EU) to enact national legislation requiring, amongst other things, that website owners must obtain informed consent for the use of cookies by their website before any cookies are planted on the user's computer hard drive.

On May 25, 2012, the Minister of Industry announced significant changes to the Canadian federal government’s review and enforcement process under the "Investment Canada Act" (the ICA).

If you are seeking a new temporary duty suspension or duty reduction for a product you import, or if you want to extend an existing reduction or suspension beyond 2012, you have until Monday, April 30 to seize the opportunity or risk waiting several years before getting another chance.

Two committees of the United States Congress recently announced the opportunity to participate in a possible Miscellaneous Tariff Bill ("MTB"), which would collect requests for temporary reduction or cancellation of import duties on specific products.

With the fall of the Assad regime and the removal of sanctions, many Western companies and investors are eager to capitalize on the new opportunities emerging in a country long cut off from Silicon Valley...

The Bureau of Industry and Security ("BIS") has issued a final rule significantly relaxing export controls on Syria under the Export Administration Regulations ("EAR"), in line with Executive Order 14312...

For supply chain companies operating in a global environment, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a key element of compliance planning for many years...

New tariffs and economic shocks are placing immense strain on business contracts and relationships.

Canada has made significant changes to its retaliatory tariffs on US origin goods, most notably by eliminating the 25 per cent surtax on a wide variety of US origin goods first imposed in March 2025.

"Made in the USA." Few phrases can evoke as much passion and controversy as these four simple words, long the stuff of political campaigns, union demands, and small-town civic pride. Recently, the phrase has found renewed relevance