On 31 March 2020, the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (“DEFF”) published directions (the “Directions”) under the National Disaster Management Act, 2002, to reduce the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The purpose of the Directions is to ensure fair processes with respect to certain environmental laws, as a result of the restrictions placed on the movement of people during the lockdown period ...
On 27 March 2020, the South African Revenue (“SARS”) announced much needed value-added tax (“VAT”) relief on the importation of “essential goods” as part of the coronavirus (COVID-19) tax relief measures. Section 7(1)(b) of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1991 (“VAT Act”) imposes VAT on the importation of any goods into South Africa by any person. In terms of section 7(1), VAT is imposed at the standard rate of 15% ...
The Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on March 31, 2020 signed a notice waiving certain deadlines for patent-related filings, if the missed deadline resulted from situations relating to COVID-19 ...
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development ("DCED"), Pennsylvania businesses have until 5 p.m. on Friday, April 3, 2020 to seek an exemption to Governor Wolf's order requiring "non-life sustaining businesses" to close physical locations. Businesses that do not file their exemption by the deadline may lose the opportunity entirely. The application can be found on the DCED’s website ...
In an expedited process, a Federal Law amending several legislative acts was passed by the State Duma and Federal Council of the Russian Federation. In particular, the law envisages use of the power of the Government of the Russian Federation to impose, in extraordinary cases, a moratorium on insolvency proceedings and provides a legal regime of such moratorium ...
The legislator acts - Special regulations on, among other things, deferral of claims, insolvency law, tenancy law and loan agreements in Germany to come. At the end of March, the German legislator adopted special regulations in response to the COVID 19 pandemic in fast-track proceedings. The law was passed by the German parliament (Bundestag) on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, and, in a special session, also by the German Federal Council (Bundesrat) on Friday, 27 March, 2020 ...
With respect to the situation caused by the pandemic and its possible data protection impacts, please find below a summary of the statement of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) on the processing of personal data in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, issued on 19 March 2020. The EDPB starts by emphasizing that “[d]ata protection rules (such as the GDPR) do not hinder measures taken in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic ...
(continuation from Part I - separate article) Part II - "Antivirus Programme" - Financial Assistance to Czech Employers The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs was mandated by the Government to further prepare a compensation program for entrepreneurs who continue to operate but whose production has decreased due to measures (category C of the Antivirus Programme) ...
Due to the reforms and additions to the General Health Act in matters of obesity and labeling of food and non-alcoholic beverages setting a frontal warning system, published in the Federal Official Gazette (Spanish Acronym - DOF) on November 8, 2019 ...
The USCIS has announced it will extend its suspension of in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices, and application support centers (ASCs) until May 4, 2020. It has also indicated it may extend these closures beyond that date if needed. USCIS will continue to provide limited emergency services during these closures ...
The United Nations has issued a “Global Call to Creatives” (the “Call”) asking content creators, influencers, advertisers, and others to help in translating public health messages “into work that will engage and inform people across different cultures, languages, communities and platforms ...
In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the President signed H.R. 748, known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act on March 27, 2020. The bill provides more than $2 trillion of aid to individuals and the public and private sector ...
On March 31, 2020, the Treasury Department and Small Business Administration (“SBA”) released initial guidance and a sample application form for the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), the small business loan program established pursuant to theCoronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act signed by President Trump on March 27, 2020 ...
The Indian Government has announced a full nationwide lockdown for three weeks (until April 14, 2020) in order to contain the spread of Covid-19. Accordingly, the Indian Trade Marks Registry, Patents and Design Office have been closed till April 15, 2020. Nevertheless, the online filing portal of Indian IP offices is operational. All deadlines falling till April 15, 2020 will become due on the day when the IP offices re-open ...
On 27th March 2020, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has posted for public consultation a draft emergency government ordinance envisaged to amend the Emergency Government Ordinance no. 1/1999 relating to the emergency state (“EGO 1/1999”). EGO 1/1999 is the basis on which the presidential decree approving the emergency state was issued on 16thMarch 2020 ...
Even such unusual circumstances as apandemic donot overthrow the general principle that contracts should be performed (pacta sunt servanda). But this does not mean that the current situation has no impact on the substance or performance of contractual obligations. Two main situations should be considered here: As aresult of the circumstances, performance of acontractual obligation has become impossible ...
M&A deals are one of the tools for pursuing business. For some they are amethod for expanding their scale of operations or generating synergies, and for others allow them to exit investments or raise capital. Thus the turbulence now felt by businesses is impacting their activity in the M&A market. While refraining from evaluating the economic impacts of the current situation, we focus on analysing selected legal aspects ...
On March 27, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”). This historic $2 trillion relief package received bipartisan support and is part of the third wave of federal government support as the nation copes with the acute economic fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The CARES Act, among other things, aims to provide significant aid to businesses and employees ...
In recent weeks, the corona-related effects on the economy have led to hectic activities by the EU Commission, the federal government, and the German states to make State support services available at short notice and in a manner that is as unbureaucratic as possible. This article provides an overview of the measures taken at federal and state level and their legal framework ...
In view of the current and imminent economic challenges, many companies are asking to what extent cooperation and concerted practices with competitors are able to ensure the supply of goods, thus cushioning the threat of an economic downturn. While the antitrust authorities have been keeping quiet on this issue for some time, several official statements have now been issued which we would like to comment on briefly below ...
