On 17 May 2023, the Belgian Medicines Agency (FAMHP) announced that marketing authorisation holders (MAHs) have three years to comply with the prohibition of “negative formulations” on the packaging of medicinal products for human use. Such negative formulations include “gluten-free”, “lactose-free”, “ethanol-free” or “no colourings” ...
“Why don’t I own this?” The words of oil prospector Daniel Plainview to his property advisor, querying the land rights for his oil pipeline to the California coast in the Oscar winning film ‘There Will Be Blood, and a blunt, single sentence reminder of the need for early due diligence on large scale developments ...
June 12, 2023 By: Michael Flynn On May 30, 2023, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a Request for Input (RFI) from the public focusing on “issues faced by tenants in multifamily properties, and on any opportunities and potential impacts associated with requiring or encouraging specific tenant protections at multifamily properties backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” Written input and feedback from the public is due by July 31, 2023 ...
In an uncertain market, there is often a renewed emphasis from investors not just on liquidity and rate of return on property investment opportunities, but also on the structuring of legal interests and the ability to ‘exit’ from a scheme ...
On 16 March 2023, in Joined Cases C‑438/21P to C‑440/21P, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) interpreted the concept of a ‘global marketing authorisation’. It held that Article 6(1) of Directive 2001/83 (the Community Code) sets out exhaustively the line extensions for which the marketing authorisations (MAs) will fall under the same global MA as the initial MA ...
On June 1, 2023, China's Ministry of Science and Technology ("MOST") officially released the Implementation Rules for the Regulation of Human Genetic Resources Administration ("Implementation Rules"), which will come into effect on July 1, 2023 ...
The much-awaited Renters (Reform) Bill received its first reading in the House of Commons last week, on Wednesday 17 May 2023. After five years of consultation and refinement, the reforms aim to improve the leasehold system through increased regulation, digitisation and standardisation. The Bill seeks to provide greater flexibility and security for residential tenants by imposing additional restrictions on private landlords ...
SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (SyCipLaw) has just published the SyCipLaw TMT and Data Bulletin covering significant Philippine legal and regulatory developments in the technology, media, telecommunications and data space, from late 2022 to the first quarter of 2023. It also notes links to podcasts and materials relating to TMT and dataPLUSa commentary on whether AI can replace a local counsel ...
The IDP is valid for 10 years (unless extended) and the States are required by law to keep it under review. The DPA was about to embark on a review in 2020 but this was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the States approved an action to carry out a targeted review of the IDP between 2023 and 2025. The review The review commenced on 25 January 2023, and it focuses on amending certain policies to meet government priorities ...
The government is pushing ahead with the establishment of a Responsible Actors Scheme (RAS) provided for under s.126 and 129 of the Building Safety Act 2022. The Scheme is initially aimed at major housebuilders and other large developers that have developed or refurbished multiple residential buildings that are known to have life-critical fire safety defects ...
At a recent event, Karen Kirkham (chair of JCT) and Sean Smylie (vice chair of the JCT) outlined the eagerly anticipated changes to the JCT suite of contracts. Speaking to members of the SCL in Birmingham, it was confirmed that the next edition is likely to be called JCT 2024 and is anticipated to be issued in the early part of next year ...
The EU regulator has harmonized the maximum levels for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in hemp seeds throughout the Union within the food contaminants framework. This EU harmonization puts pressure on conservative national food laws such as the Belgian Royal Decree of 31 August 2021, which treats hemp seeds as a prohibited food.The situation in Belgium, however, is changing to better align it with EU law ...
Introduction An EU Regulation on the making available on the Union market as well as export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation (“Deforestation Regulation”) was agreed upon by the EU legislators in December 2022. The European Parliament has now green-lighted the Provisional Agreement at this month’s plenary session ...
On April 18, 2023, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems a staggering $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit. Particularly startling about the settlement is that Dominion was valued at around $51 million as recently as 2018, meaning that the settlement resulted in a payout up to fifteen times Dominion’s value. Dominion filed the lawsuit in response to publicly broadcast statements by Fox News and its guests after the 2020 election ...
The government has issued more guidance regarding Accountable Persons and the Principal Accountable Person under the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA). These persons are key to the building safety regime, with responsibility for assessing and managing structural and fire risks in occupied higher-risk buildings (HRBs) – and subject to criminal sanctions for non-compliance ...
Ohio legislators are once again attempting to transform the state’s medical marijuana control program after a similar effort stalled out last year. Proponents of the proposed legislation, Senate Bill 9, seek to expand medical marijuana access to Ohioans and revamp the structure of the current program. The proposal would establish the Division of Marijuana Control (“DMC”) under the Department of Commerce ...
Americans have increasingly accepted meat and dairy alternatives as staples in their daily diets. For example, recent market research shows that two out of every five U.S. consumers plan to purchase plant-based meat products in 2023. The prevalence of these forms of alternative protein has set the stage for a semantic — and potentially paradigm-shifting — dispute over the very meaning of the terms "meat," "milk" and "dairy ...
When you hear the word cyberattack you think of attacks on banks, large box stores, or medical facilities. You should add the construction industry to that list because it is the third most common target for cyberattacks. These types of attacks are only increasing because bad actors have created processes that have streamlined how they attack businesses. They like to attack the construction industry because large sums of money are being transferred in and out of bank accounts via wire transfers ...
Legislation in Florida may soon change the time property owners have to file construction-related lawsuits. Both the Florida Senate, with SB 360, and the House of Representatives, with HB 85, passed identical bills and recently converted them into an Act to be presented to the Governor. If signed into law, the Act would revise the lawsuit “triggering actions” in section 95 ...
The N.C. Building Code Council is required by North Carolina law to reevaluate the building code every six years. In light of climate change legislation enacted in North Carolina on the heels of Governor Cooper’s 2019 Clean Energy Plan, changes to the energy code are being considered that would result in an 18 percent increase in energy efficiency for new homes. These code changes are in line with the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code ...
Time is running out for developers that have not yet signed the Developer Remediation Contract. The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, delivered a clear message last week: “The Responsible Actors Scheme is coming. Only developers who behave responsibly will be trusted to build the homes of the future. Any eligible developers who fail to do the right thing will need to find a new line of work” ...
The South African Government's new Preferential Procurement Regulations, 2022 (“2022 Regulations”) have created uncertainty about how organs of state will identify "specific goals" in their procurement processes. While the regulations do not specifically require the consideration of B-BBEE, organs of state can still use it as a factor in preference point scoring, along with or instead of other goals like employment equity, green procurement, and local content and production ...
