New and emerging regulatory requirements around the world related to forced labor are shifting the burden of proof to industry to provide evidence that imported items are not produced with forced labor.
The U.S.'s Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the German Supply Chain Law (LkSG), the proposed EU ban on products created using forced labor, and Canada’s Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act all pose significant due diligence requirements for companies across all industry verticals.
In this session, experts from Kharon and Descartes are joined by Carolyn Krampitz & David Stepp, Crowell & Moring and Matthias Boehning, International Society for Human Rights. The session provides an overview of new global regulatory requirements, expectations for industry, and due diligence best practices.
SPEAKERS:
Carolyn Krampitz, Trade Consultant, Crowell & Moring
Carolyn Krampitz is a trade consultant in Crowell & Moring’s Chicago office and a member of the firm’s International Trade Group. She is a German-qualified lawyer admitted to practice in Germany and before the European Court.
Carolyn has significant experience in EU and German international trade laws. She has been advising public and private companies since 2008 on how to develop corporate trade compliance when dealing with transborder business issues into or out of Germany and the European Union.
She has advised on customs, export controls, sanctions and other regulatory compliance questions, as well as on analysis, optimization, and support of implementing processes according to national legal requirements. Auditing cross-border related procedures to detect compliance gaps, calculating compliance rates, and filing self-disclosures are also important aspects of her practice, together with applications for export licenses, customs simplifications, and AEO certificates.
In recent years, she has also been working with companies on how to adequately comply with human rights and certain environmental due diligence requirements in their supply chains, such as those under the EU forced labor regulations and German Supply Chain Due Diligence requirements.
David Stepp, Partner, Crowell & Moring
A leading international trade lawyer with more than 30 years of experience, David Stepp provides multinational companies with strategic advice on global customs and international trade compliance matters. A trusted advisor, David helps clients navigate the legal and business challenges of operating in an increasingly contentious global business environment. He advises companies with complex global supply chains in a wide variety of industries, including electronics, automotive, aerospace, e-commerce, apparel, home improvement, agriculture, seafood, defense, medical supplies, among others.
As a member of Crowell’s International Trade Group and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) team, David advises companies on compliance with forced labor and human rights requirements. He has deep experience assisting companies in mapping their supply chains, including linking imported products back to their raw materials using enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and other inventory management audit tools. David is highly experienced in forced labor supply chain mapping and risk assessments, and verifying due diligence efforts with on-the-ground visits to client facilities incorporating third party intelligence and audit resources. He is a thought leader and frequent speaker in the U.S. and Europe on the enforcement of national laws prohibiting forced labor and modern slavery and the development of strategies to achieve and maintain compliance.
Additionally, David regularly advises clients on international trade regulatory matters, including those related to tariff classification, valuation, country of origin marking, free trade agreements, the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) Program, and other compliance issues regulating the global trade in goods. He has extensive experience in conducting global customs and international trade audits, assisting clients on improving, benchmarking, and coordinating compliance programs across borders.
David spent three years in Singapore managing an international law firm’s office there where he advised on Asia trade issues and developed supply chain strategies for companies to leverage their Asian manufacturing and distribution networks to minimize duties and non-tariff barriers.
David is very active and highly respected in the international trade community. He is a co-founder and former president of the Global Legal Customs Association (GLCA), an organization of leading customs practitioners from over 20 jurisdictions in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. David also is board member of the Northern California World Trade Center, and a member of the Foreign Trade Association of Southern California, American Association of Exporters and Importers, and the Pacific Council on International Policy. For 10 years, David was the instructor for the Los Angeles Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders class for students taking U.S. Customs & Broker Protection’s customs broker licensing examination.
Matthias Boehning, Secretary General, International Society for Human Rights
Matthias K. Boehning is Secretary General of the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR), an independent non-profit and non-governmental organization that works in over 30 countries around the globe on behalf of people who are working non-violently to realize human rights in their countries or who are persecuted for demanding their rights. He has an academic background in development economics and business administration and studied in Hohenheim/Germany and Stellenbosch/South Africa. In the last ten years he has worked in various positions in international cooperation in Europe and Africa. He is also Managing Director of PIRON Global Development, a project management, fundraising, consulting and communications agency with offices in Germany (Bonn) and Ghana (Accra) supporting clients in international development cooperation, humanitarian aid and faith-based charitable work.
Kit Conklin, Vice President, Global Client Engagement, Kharon
Kit leads Kharon’s engagement with government clients and advises U.S. and international clients on Military End User and export control risks. Prior to Kharon, Kit served in national security positions with the U.S. government where he specialized in nonproliferation and East Asia security issues. Kit also established nuclear cyber security and technology defense programs at Lawrence Livermore and Pacific Northwest National Laboratories. Kit has held multiple think tank fellowships and his work has been published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Center for Nonproliferation Studies. He speaks Mandarin Chinese and Spanish and holds an MS from the National Intelligence University and an MA from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Kit is a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's GeoTech Center.
Jackson Wood, Director, Industry Solutions, Trade Compliance, Descartes Systems Group
Operating across Descartes’ Global Trade Intelligence business, Jackson works collaboratively with Product Management, Global Marketing and Commercial Operations partners to help develop and deliver solutions that address the increasing complexity and volatility of today’s global trade environment. With a keen focus on both the present and emerging needs of Descartes’ customers, Jackson leverages his 15+ years of experience in market research, strategic planning, change management and corporate development to provide meaningful insights that help increase and amplify the value clients realize from Descartes’ solutions. Jackson joined the organization in December 2019 and brings over a decade of trade compliance industry experience to his role.