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European artificial intelligence act and customs implications
On 9 December 2023 the European Commission published a press release on the “political agreement on Artificial Intelligence Act”. According to this document: “…The new rules will be applied directly in the same way across all Member States, based on a future-proof definition of AI….” By following a risk-based approach for which there are two main categories of risks: Minimal risk: “…The vast majority of AI systems fall into the category of minimal risk. Minimal risk applications such as AI-enabled recommender systems or spam filters will benefit from a free-pass and absence of obligations, as these systems present only minimal or no risk for citizens’ rights or safety. On a…
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The next challenge of AEO: deforestation and CBAM
Environment protection is one of the key factor of the European trade policy. This requires a strong due diligence for the import of relevant commodities and the export of relevant product to prevent deforestation and forest degradation linked to cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood trade and deployment. From the other side, from October 2023 the reporting required by the Carbon border adjustment mechanism will enter into force for the import of cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen. CBAM implies a good management of the following customs aspects required for the AEO: The customs classification will play an important role to well identify the…
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The ESG key legislative developments: deforestation, CBAM
ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) is the new approach of the European trade compliance policies and is a business framework for considering environmental issues and social issues in the context of corporate governance. This means that businesses must seek greater visibility of their suppliers’ operations and ensure certain environmental, human rights and governance safeguards, including driving ESG commitments into their supply contracts. The key pieces of legislation introduced are: deforestation risks: EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requires extensive due diligence obligations on the value chain for all operators and traders dealing with certain products derived from cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood. It is important to ensure…