Tag: restrictions

Ongoing Canadian Protests Shine Spotlight on Ripple Effect of Supply Chain Disruptions

Although the last two years have seen a nearly never-ending line of supply chain impacts for manufacturers, the latest disruption is also serving to shine a spotlight on the broader impact that relatively small disruptions in the supply chain can have on the global economy.  We all know that trucking is a critical component of the economy.  The U.S. estimates seventy two percent of goods in the U.S. travel by truck.  Trucking has become even more important in this era of increased deliveries and backlogs at ports and other logistics hubs.

In Canada, what began as protests by truckers regarding certain pandemic-related restrictions and mandates have snowballed into broader protests and blockages of roads, bridges, and border crossings.

Protesters have been blocking various bridges and roads in Canada in protest of certain pandemic-related restrictions and mandates.  On Tuesday, the bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario to Detroit (a critical linkage for cross-border travel) was largely blocked, with traffic stopped going into Canada and slowed to a trickle going into the United States. The blockades are now leading U.S. automakers to begin trimming shifts and pausing certain operations in their Michigan and Canadian plants. The bridge protests and automakers’ reduction in capacity continued on Thursday without an end in sight.

The ongoing protests in Canada have also served as a reminder of how seemingly local trucking disruptions in one country can cascade through the supply chain.  This is not the first time that trucking strikes and blockages have rippled through the supply chain and economy.  In 1996, a truckers’ strike in France lasted 12 days, barricading major highways and ultimately leading to concessions from the French government over certain worker benefits and hours.  The resulting agreement led to heightened tensions with Spain, Portugal, and Great Britain due to the impact felt across borders.  In 2008, truckers went on strike in Spain and blocked roads and border crossings, protesting fuel prices.  In 2018, truckers in Brazil staged a large strike and protest that lasted for 10 days, blocking roads, disrupting food and fuel distribution, canceling flights, and causing certain part shortages for automakers.

The ongoing protests in Canada have similarly expanded from Ottawa to the current blockage of border crossings, further raising their profile internationally as they begin to impact global trade.  It remains to be seen how the blockades and protests will resolve, as leaders call for de-escalation and re-opening of roads and crossings.  However, the ripple effects of what started as a localized protest will continue to be felt far beyond Canada’s borders.

Article By Lauren M. Loew of Foley & Lardner LLP

For more COVID-19 and supply chain legal news, click here to visit the National Law Review.

© 2022 Foley & Lardner LLP

Current Pandemic-Related Regulations for Business Travel to the United States, Germany, and the EU

Recently, due to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, many countries decided to lift their entry restrictions or change them in such a way that travelers who had recovered from COVID-19 infections or been vaccinated were allowed entry. Here is an overview of some of the current entry requirements for international travel.

Entry Into the United States

Since November 8, 2021, individuals have been allowed to enter the United States again from Europe. For 20 months, an entry ban had been in place in the United States for travelers from Brazil, China, India, Iran, Ireland, the Schengen Area (26 countries), South Africa, and the United Kingdom. A proclamation issued by President Joe Biden on October 25, 2021—“A Proclamation on Advancing the Safe Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID-⁠19 Pandemic”—ended these entry restrictions and the need for national interest exceptions (NIE) to the restrictions. Travelers from most countries (a recent U.S. ban on travel from eight African countries took effect on November 29, 2021) may enter the United States if they are fully vaccinated and present negative coronavirus test results (via RT-PCR tests or antigen tests) that are no more than three days old at the time of departure.

Travelers must prove to their airlines that they have been fully vaccinated with internationally recognized vaccines prior to their departures. Currently, the United States recognizes vaccines the Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Oxford-AstraZeneca/Covishield, Covaxin, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson/Janssen, BIBP/Sinopharm, and Sinovacvaccines. A traveler’s last vaccination must have taken place at least 14 days before the planned date of travel. The United States accepts the EU Digital COVID Certificate as proof of vaccination.

Exempt groups include persons on diplomatic or governmental foreign travel, children under 18 years of age, and persons who cannot be vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine for documented medical reasons. Persons exempt from the October 25, 2021, proclamation’s requirements may enter the United States without being fully vaccinated, but they must quarantine for seven days upon arrival and test for COVID-19 infection three to five days after entry.

Regardless of the COVID-19–related entry requirements, all travelers still need an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) entry permit issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). CBP advises travelers to apply online for ESTA authorization at least 72 hours in advance of departure.

Requirements for Entry Into the European Union

The European Union (EU) has a common approach to travel from third countries to EU member states. Entry requirements are constantly being adapted to the pandemic situation as international travel gradually opens up. Currently, in principle, any person from a third country who has been fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) (BioNTech-Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Janssen-Cilag) may enter the European Union. The last vaccination must have taken place at least 14 days before the planned entry.

EU citizens and residents as well as their family members are allowed to enter EU member states without being fully vaccinated. Further exceptions apply to persons for whom absolutely necessary reasons for entry exist. “Absolutely necessary reasons” may exist, among other things, for highly qualified employees from third countries if their labor is necessary from an economic point of view and their work cannot be postponed or carried out abroad.

The EU also maintains a list of countries where the epidemiological situation has improved sufficiently (the so-called “EU White List”), so that entry from these countries is possible regardless of an individual’s vaccination status. This list is constantly updated according to the epidemiological situation. The United States is not currently on the EU White List, so entry from the United States is only possible for fully vaccinated persons.

Each EU member state may set its own additional entry requirements. The EU’s “Re-open EU,” a clearinghouse of information regarding EU member states’ pandemic-related measures, offers an overview of the quarantine and testing requirements of the individual countries.

Requirements for Entry Into Germany

All travelers to Germany from third countries that are not on the EU White List and are not EU citizens or residents must be fully vaccinated. In exceptional cases, entry is possible if it is absolutely necessary.

In addition, all travelers aged 12 or older must provide proof of vaccination. Before crossing the border, proof of vaccination or convalescence, or a test result showing negative for infection (e.g., an antigen test that is no more than 48 hours old or an RT-PCR test that is no more than 72 hours old), must be presented for inspection by the carrier or at the request of the Federal Police.

For previous stays in high-risk or virus-variant areas, digital travel registration is also mandatory. The Robert Koch Institute provides a current list of all high-risk and virus-variant areas.

Nonvaccinated or recovered travelers entering from high-risk areas must also present a negative test upon entry and enter domestic quarantine for 10 days. The domestic quarantine can be ended prematurely if another negative test result is presented five days after entry.

At present, travel from a virus-variant area is not possible, as a travel ban is in force for countries where virus mutations are widespread. Entry is possible only in a few exceptional cases (for example, for German nationals and persons with residence and an existing right of abode in Germany, as well as their immediate family members). Irrespective of vaccination or convalescent status, these travelers are obliged to register their entries digitally, present negative test results upon entry, and go into quarantine for 14 days. Only vaccinated and recovered persons may shorten their quarantine periods by presenting further negative test results five days after entry.

Employer Inquiries Into Employees’ Vaccination and Recovery Status

These extensive regulations raise a question as to whether an employer may inquire into an employee’s vaccination status, or whether the employee has recovered from a COVID-19 infection in connection with an upcoming business trip.

The vaccination and/or convalescence status of an employee, under 9 (1) of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is considered health data and thus protected personal information according to Art. An employer may request and process this information only if there is a legal basis for doing so. If a business trip requires proof of an employee’s vaccination against COVID-19 (e.g., due to entry restrictions), an employer may request and process this information from the employee in individual cases. However, employers may only request the information in the context of specific business trips and are prohibited from retaining the information for any other purposes.”

The COVID-19–related entry regulations of many countries may largely determine the feasibility of a contemplated business trip, as the prospect for international business travel will likely depend on the vaccination status of the employees involved. This situation may result in a legitimate interest on the part of the employer to inquire into employee vaccination status because the employer would otherwise be unable to find out whether a particular employee met the entry requirements of the destination country. Only by inquiring into vaccination status can the employer ensure that the employee is not turned away at the border—i.e., that the employee can fulfill the duty to provide the contractually agreed upon work within the scope of the business trip.

Whether an employer’s query regarding an employee’s vaccination status is legitimate is therefore a case- and fact-specific inquiry, which depends above all on the entry regulations of the destination country. If the destination country requires complete vaccination for entry, it may be permissible from a data protection perspective to ask about an employee’s vaccination status.

Article By Cynthia Lange of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

For more COVID-19 and travel-related legal news, click here to visit the National Law Review.

© 2021, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., All Rights Reserved.

New Rules Offer Clarity On China’s Outbound M&A Crackdown

On August 18, 2017, China’s State Council issued guidelines clarifying rules passed a year ago by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) limiting outbound investments as cover-up to move money out of China.

The new guidelines provide different policies for Chinese companies’ investment overseas, broadly dividing overseas investment into three categories:

  • investments in “real estate, hotels, entertainment, sport clubs, [and] outdated industries” are restricted;

  • investments in sectors that could “jeopardize China’s national interest and security, including output of unauthorized core military technology and products” and investments in gambling and pornography are prohibited; and

  • investments in establishing R&D centers abroad and in sectors like high-tech and advanced manufacturing enterprises that could boost China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and investments that would benefit Chinese products and technology will be encouraged by Chinese outbound regulators.

These guidelines are new and we have to wait and see how they will be interpreted and implemented by regulators. Still, there may be reasons to believe they will have a net positive effect on the China-U.S. M&A market. The new guidelines bring about greater certainty to buyers, lenders and targets on whether a deal will get approved by Chinese regulators.

The volume and size of Chinese outbound M&A is already on an upward trajectory in the second quarter of 2017, as buyers are already getting more acclimated to SAFE rules announced at the end of 2016 restricting the outflow of Chinese capital. Chinese buyers completed 94 deals totaling $36 billion in Q2, compared to the 74 deals totaling $12 billion in Q1. The current Chinese outbound M&A trend, coupled with greater certainty under the new guidelines, is likely to result in more Chinese outbound M&A deals during the last quarter of 2017, as well as in 2018.

This post was written by Shang Kong & Zhu Julie Lee of Foley & Lardner LLP © 2017

For more legal analysis go to The National Law Review

Revised Travel Ban Coming?

The Trump Administration reportedly may replace the current travel ban with a country-specific set of restrictions.

In June, the Supreme Court allowed the government to begin enforcing the 90-day travel ban against individuals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen who had no bona fide relationship to the United States. The 90-day ban will expire on September 24. The 120-day ban on refugees also went into effect in June. The Supreme Court plans to hear the full travel ban case on October 10.

The Department of Homeland Security’s recently finalized classified report on screening foreign travelers may support anticipated changes to the travel ban. Substituting a new ban could change the dynamics, potentially making the case before the Supreme Court moot or leading to a remand of the case for further hearing at the lower court level.

The new restrictions are expected to be open-ended and based upon the DHS review and identification of countries with deficient security standards. More than six countries may have been identified. Additional countries could be added to the banned list, others could be removed, and still others might become subject to certain visa restrictions.

This post was written by Michael H. Neifach of Jackson Lewis P.C. © 2017
For more legal analysis go to The National Law Review