All Legal & Institutional articles
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News briefs
Deichmann loses court battle over waste disposal fees
Deichmann has lost a legal dispute at the Gelsenkirchen Administrative Court over waste disposal costs, according to media reports. The Essen-based footwear retailer had sought exemption from Germany’s system participation obligation, or Systembeteiligungspflicht, which requires businesses to pay fees for the recycling and disposal of packaging intended for private consumers. ...
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ArticleEU introduces €3 duty on parcels worth less than €150
The member states of the European Union have agreed to introduce a temporary €3 customs duty per item on e-commerce parcels valued below €150, starting on July 1, 2026. If a parcel has several items of the same product the tax will only apply once. But if it contains different ...
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EU scales back corporate sustainability rules
EU lawmakers reached a political agreement on Dec 9 to significantly scale back corporate sustainability and due diligence obligations under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). The deal was concluded during a trilogue between the European Commission, Parliament and Council. According to ...
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Thirtheen brands asked to provide supply chain information to the Italian police
The Italian police visited 13 brands and asked them to provide documentation regarding their governance and the control of their supply chains as part of an investigation into alleged worker abuse at subcontractors, the Reuters news agency reported citing judicial documents. The companies concerned are Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Prada, ...
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ArticleTod’s obtains postponement on ruling regarding advertising ban
A Milan-based court has granted a request by Tod’s to postpone a hearing on whether its advertising should be banned for six months due to concerns over alleged labor abuses within its supply chain. A hearing on the matter scheduled for Dec. 3 has been postponed to Feb. 23 after ...
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ArticleIndian labor reform seen cutting red tape but hiking cost of hiring
India’s labor reform should ease the compliance burden for businesses, but the cost of hiring may rise, according to the Japanese brokerage Nomura. On Nov. 21, the country launched four new labor codes, resulting in the largest overhaul of workers’ laws in decades in an effort by the government to ...
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Mexican government to support the local textile and footwear industry
The Mexican government has presented a stimulus plan for the textile and footwear industry in order to recover about half of the 100,000 job the sector has lost to foreign competition. Through an agreement with the Spanish bank BBVA and Mexico’s development bank Nacional Financiera (Nafin), the government aims ...
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Instagram, Facebook to ban Australians under the age of 16 from Dec. 4
Meta announced that it will start banning from Dec. 4 Australian users under the age of 16 accessing Instagram, Facebook and Threads to comply with the country’s new social media rules. The US group started notifying the users concerned “to give them the opportunity to save their contacts and ...
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GermanFashion elects a new president
The trade association GermanFashion has appointed a new president following the biennial election of its board of directors at this year’s general meeting. After 14 years in the role, Gerd Oliver Seidensticker, of Seidensticker Group, has handed the presidency to Justus Lebek, of Lebek International Fashion, who was elected with ...
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US to cut Swiss trade tariffs to 15%
The United States and Switzerland reached trade agreement under which the US will cut import tariffs on Swiss products to 15 percent from 39 percent, while Switzerland will remove a range of tariffs across agriculture and industrial sectors and Swiss companies pledged to invest $200 billion in the US ...
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ArticleBirkenstock wins a copyright lawsuit in the Netherlands against Scapino
Birkenstock said that the District Court of Midden-Nederland, located in the Dutch town of Utrecht, has ruled in its favor a copyright case against the local shoe retailer Scapino. The German company said that the decision ”stands out” because the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled in February ...
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EU countries reach an agreement to reduce CO2 emissions 90% by 2040
European Union ministers with responsibility for climate have reached an agreement to cut net carbon dioxide emissions 90% by 2040, said the Danish Climate Minister, Lars Aagard. Denmark currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Council. The agreement provides for some flexibility in reaching that goal. For example, the ...
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US, China agree on a truce in trade war
Following a meeting on Oct. 30 in Busan, South Korea, the US President, Donald Trump, and the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, reached a multi-point agreement to ease trade tensions. China agreed to suspend its new rare-earth export controls for one year, effectively maintaining access to critical materials for US ...
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ArticleBioShoes4All project nears finish line with campaign to promote conscious consumption
BioShoes4All, an initiative to bolster the sustainability of Portugal’s footwear supply chain launched in 2022, is nearing the finish line, with the Portuguese footwear industry association Apiccaps announcing in mid-October that 85 percent of BioShoes4All projects had been completed and unveiling an international campaign to promote the conscious consumption of ...
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Italian court appoints an expert for Aeffe and Pollini’s negotiated settlement procedure
The Chamber of Commerce of Romagna Forlì-Cesena and Rimini appointed on Oct. 8 Riccardo Ranalli as the expert to reach a negotiated settlement for the financial crisis affecting the Italian luxury goods company Aeffe and its footwear unit Pollini. On Oct. 10, Aeffe filed a petition with a court in ...
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China to impose extra fees on US ships from Oct. 14
China will impose additional fees on US vessels using its ports from Oct. 14 in retaliation to a similar measure by the US, according to the Transport Ministry. The extra fees will apply to ships owned and operated by American companies, as well as vessels built in the US. The ...
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ArticleTrump plans to increase tariffs on Chinese imports to 130%
The US President, Donald Trump, wrote on the social network Truth Social that he plans to increase US tariffs on Chinese imports by 100 percentage points on Nov.1, lifing the duties to 130 percent from 30 percent currently. The US will also introduce new controls on “any and all critical ...
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ArticleItalian prosecutor seeks to put Tod’s under court administration
Paolo Storari, a Milan-based public prosecutor, is seeking to put Tod’s under judicial administration for having allegedly facilitated poor working conditions in its supply chain. The Italian luxury goods group is accused of using suppliers operating workshops where workers lived “in conditions of quasi-slavery with wages of €2.75 per hour,” ...
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Aeffe and Pollini apply for negotiated settlement procedure to overcome financial crisis
Aeffe said that its board has applied for a negotiated settlement for the financial crisis affecting the Italian luxury goods company and its footwear unit Pollini. The group also requested the appointment of an independent expert and ”the application of protective measures” for the two businesses. Aeffe pointed out that ...
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Vietnamese exports to the US may drop by one-fifth
The 20 percent import tariff imposed on Aug. 7 by the US on Vietnamese goods could reduce the country’s exports to America by nearly one-fifth, making it the worst-hit country in Southeast Asia, according to estimates by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Vietnam’s exports to the US could fall ...
