Our dedicated team provides trade, advocacy and communications support to multinational companies and public sector clients in Africa and across the world.
International trade operates within a complex political, regulatory and media environment. Understanding and effectively managing this landscape is critical to how you are perceived by markets and by different global audiences. The ability of business and government to interpret and influence this environment is crucial to ongoing success.
We help sophisticated clients in business and government to navigate through the intricate web of regulation, legislation and standards that govern global policymaking. We help you understand policy creation and decision-making processes at a national, regional and global level and help to ensure your voice is heard and acknowledged in global capitals and centers of government.
Local insight, global reach: with lawyers in 20 African countries, our teams understand the political, legal, cultural and regulatory issues in the region. Our global Africa team itself comprises more than 200 lawyers in Johannesburg, Casablanca, London, New York, Paris, Dubai, Perth, Hong Kong and Beijing.
Because we are part of one of the world’s largest law firms, our clients have easy access to multidisciplinary teams and resources around the globe, enabling a fully coordinated approach to help improve access to new markets across multiple jurisdictions.
Key capabilities include:
- trade policy and environment: trade litigation, industry coalitions, negotiations, interpretation and enforcement of bilateral and multilateral trade and investment agreements, free trade, WTO accessions, compliance matters, settlement proceedings
- Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS): with decades of experience practicing before the committee, helping clients navigate this complex national security review process
- cross-border investments: multidisciplinary approach to global capital flow, advising on cross-border opportunities and regulatory risks for cross-border mergers, acquisitions, and financings
- customs: strategic and legal support in all aspects of customs enforcement, reducing customs duty and indirect tax liabilities, internal audits, voluntary disclosure cases, seizures, investigations, penalties
- antidumping and countervailing duty: all facets of prosecuting and defending actions and other trade remedy matters before trade agencies, courts and international dispute resolution panels
- advocacy and regulation: utilizing existing regulatory instruments, advocacy for market access improvements, influencing regulatory approvals that will impact product approval and import prices
- product stewardship, liability and recall: managing product liability risks globally, advising on the full range of regulatory issues at every stage of the product life cycle
- sanctions and export controls: compliance with complex sanctions laws, advising on national and international regulations for trade and transactions, developing tailored proactive programs
- capacity building: comprehensive training courses to build the longer term capacity of public officials, diplomats and business people
- international trade disputes: full range of trade remedy litigation before trade agencies, international dispute resolution panels and courts; prosecute, defend and advise on import relief and market access proceedings for domestic producers, foreign producers and importers across a range of industries
- global anticorruption: international anticorruption and financial crimes enforcement, dealing with the authorities responsible for regulatory investigations, investigations, reviews, audits, due diligence
- country of origin: rules applying to country of origin, determining correct country of origin
- trade terms: use of commercial terms of sale and application of the International Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG)
Please contact us to discuss how we can help you to achieve your objectives.