By Ontier

For some years now, there has been a lot of discussion about sustainable fashion, but it seems that more and more brands are finally joining in. But, what actually is sustainable fashion and what relationship does it have in an increasingly digitized world?

Sustainable fashion is one that respects the environment and society in all its phases: from conception, to production, through distribution to sale. This fashion proposal tries to work with less polluting raw materials, reduce production waste such as water and electricity costs, and produce durable pieces, stimulating conscious consumption. Furthermore, this model proposes a more humane production, without exploitation of labor and with a more equitable remuneration.

The fashion industry has been talking about sustainability for years, but there was a lack of measures to help companies to be sustainable. Nowadays, with technological advances, we will be able to close the gap between sustainable fashion and fast fashion/virtual/e-commerce. We have also begun to see a change in the attitude of governments, big corporations, and in the consumer’s minds (an awareness) towards sustainability. It is seen as something accessible, possible and needed.

In this area, Industry 4.0 will be able to bring numerous advantages to the fashion industry, thanks to new advances in technology and new production processes: less polluting and more durable materials can be created, production processes can be more effective by intelligently using the data collected from consumers, reducing use of raw materials, thus reducing not only costs but also the environment impact. In general terms, it is important that before implementing a digitization strategy, an analysis of all the legal aspects that may affect it is carried out.

Sustainable (or eco-sustainable) fashion fits perfectly into a broader concept of Society 5.0: a society characterized by caring for people and their well-being, by developing an ecosystem favorable to innovation and the development of new technologies. Digitization can further help accelerate all these sustainable goals, as they are also helpful in maintaining certain vital health standards which are key nowadays.

It is a challenging time but there are many opportunities ahead. And, as Susan Scafidi, an American lawyer and the first professor to offer a Fashion Law course, says, “where there is life, there is fashion.”

ONTIER has created a fashion and luxury department and a representative team from Rome, Madrid and Miami participated at the Miami Fashion Week last June, which was held virtually this year along with Univision. To see the complete speech of our team talking about sustainability and innovation, you can click on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKeVZ86Zxjo

If you need more information about this or need assistance with any legal concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at:

Partner

Christie García – chgarcia@ontier.net

Country Manager

Marta Corbí – mcorbi@ontier.net

By Salcedo Attorneys at Law P.A

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is considering making some modifications to the extensive list of European products which were subject to duties in October 2019, as part of the trade controversy between the U.S. and the European Union. The controversy stems from alleged government aid from the European Union and certain states to the aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

In a notice published on the Federal Register on June 26, 2020 (the text is available at this link), the USTR invited comments from the public, i.e. individuals or interest groups, on certain revisions to the duties. These changes may involve the increase, up to a level of 100%, of the duties already imposed on goods listed in Annex I to the notice, which includes such staple Italian products as cheese, ham and cured meats.

Similar increases may occur for products listed in Annex II. Such products previously considered but are not currently subject to additional duties. Italian wine is among the products listed in Annex II. Finally, in Annex III, the USTR lists new products from France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom which are now being considered for additional duties.

Comments addressed to the USTR may discuss: “Whether maintaining or imposing additional duties on specific products of one or more current or former EU member States would cause disproportionate economic harm to U.S. interests, including small or medium-size businesses and consumers.”

If you or your business wishes to submit your comments in connection with the existing or proposed duties, you can do so by visiting the following link.

Comments will be accepted until July 26, 2020.

By EXP Legal 

In a moment of crisis such as the one we are experiencing in recent months, thinking about new business internationalization strategies or export plans can be a winning choice, in a medium-long term, especially for Italian SMEs that may struggle to regain large market shares in the domestic market.

In this context, despite all the problems deriving from the epidemiological emergency, the United States remain the first commercial partner of Made in Italy among the non-EU countries and the third Italian commercial partner at worldwide level.

With a total of 42.4 billion euros of exports, 2018 closed with an increase in Italian sales to the USA of 5% compared to 2017. The provisional data for 2019 show an increase compared to 2018 of 6.5% (SACE-Simest data).

Furthermore, despite the fact that in March 2020, for the commercial exchange with non-EU27 countries, a clear reduction was recorded both for Italian exports (-13.9%) and imports (-12.4%), the USA were the only market in which our exports grew in the first quarter of 2020 (+0.9%).

For these reasons, EXP Legal – Italian & International Firm, in partnership with the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce Southeast, has organized two webinars with the aim to provide companies with an overview of the business internationalization opportunities in the United States.

The topic of the first webinar will be “how to start a business in the USA”: from obtaining visas to establishing a branch/subsidiary and subsequent fulfilments. During the second online event a successful business case in the United States carried out by an Italian company will be analyzed in detail:

• Fare impresa negli USA pt. 1: costituzione di una filiale e questioni legali, fiscali e di diritto dell’immigrazione (Monday, 8 June 2020 at 3:30 p.m., ITA time – zoom platform). Register here: https://bit.ly/3cdIFg4
• Fare impresa negli USA pt. 2: analisi di un “business case” (Monday, 22 June 2020 at 3:30 p.m., ITA time – zoom platform). Register here: https://bit.ly/2AnzD36

The two webinars will be in Italian language.

For more information please contact the Firm at info@explegal.it.

By Magniflex USA

Italian mattress giant, Magniflex, has dedicated part of their focus to quality, washable, Made in Italy face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Magniflex is committed to supporting the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce during this tough time by offering face masks to its members at wholesale price and has pledged to donate $1 per each sold mask to the Italian Chamber as a contribution to help support their initiatives that promote Made in Italy during this time of need.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR IACCSE MEMBERS

Face Mask with Italian Flag and adjustable ear laces:

– $6.99 per mask, sold in 5-pack

– Minimum order 5 masks

– Shipping included with USPS

– Faster UPS shipping – $4.99 surcharge for orders of 5, free for orders of 10+ masks

– $1 per mask will be donated to IACCSE

Face Mask in Blue with adjustable ear laces:

– $5.99 per mask, sold in 5-pack

– Minimum order 5 masks

– Shipping included with USPS

– Faster UPS shipping – $4.99 surcharge for orders of 5, free for orders of 10+ masks

– $1 per mask will be donated to IACCSE

The face masks are made in 95% cotton and 5% spandex and can be washed up to 10 times when using common detergents. Additional colors and customizations (e.g. personalized logo) are available for orders of minimum 250 pieces.

Throughout the pandemic Magniflex was proud to donate face masks to the Forest Firefighting Surveillance Service (VAB – Vigilanza Antincendio Boschivo), which works hard every day to deliver groceries to the elderly and less fortunate. To show continued support and gratitude Magniflex also made a donation of face masks to the Meyer Hospital in Florence during the COVID-19 crisis.

These masks are great for the service, restaurant, and hospitality industries.

For more information on pricing and ordering please contact silvia.galasso@magniflex.us.

By Digitance 

COVID-19 emergency has forced governments, in many countries around the world, to impose drastic measures of social distancing. One of the main consequences of this decision was the immediate increase in the use of ICT technologies, in order to fill the inconveniences imposed by this distancing.

For example, educational institutions have replaced face-to-face classrooms with remote teaching. Companies immediately began to use the “Smart Working” methods in a massive way. The ordinary citizens, forced into their homes, have used video communication as an alternative to direct socialization.

Digitance believes that human factor always remains the fundamental element in every activity, in every process. Its centrality is indisputable.

Human behaviours are a crucial element in every analysis, in every situation.

The massive use of ICT tools, in the past few months, has brought public attention to the increasingly frequent and pressing actions of hackers who, taking advantage of the situation, have become progressively aggressive.

Apart from any technological disquisition, a “first line of defence” against hacking actions can undoubtedly be represented by some “virtuous” personal behaviours towards tools and technology applications.

First, in the use of “social media”, we should never describe our habits, our lifestyles and, above all, we would never talk about our possible absences from home and from office. This is information that hackers would know how to exploit.

We should learn how to build “strong” passwords, wisely using the full range of available characters, including special ones. We should never use full names connected to us and not even places or dates.

We should create our own personal password rotation policy. We would try not to keep the same password for more than a month on the same application and create our own archive of passwords and rotation criteria, which we will keep outside of our PCs, smartphones, tablets, etc.

As far as possible, we should avoid using free email services, web conferencing, VoIP, etc. … the so-called “no-cost economy” does not cope with security. Free platforms are the preferred target of hackers, who take advantage of the intrinsic weakness of the platforms themselves.

As soon as possible, we should equip ourselves with a system for encrypting our data, our hard disks, in order to decrease their vulnerability.

These are just a few small tips, which can however start to define a virtuous behavioural model, that could be a robust base to start building – with the help of a specialized company such as Digitance Group – a real Security Management System.

By EXP Legal

By BGSM & Partners 

by Trend Transformations 

• Hospitals – outdoor testing, reception and assessment points, mobile command centers
• Fire stations – outdoor testing, reception and assessment points, mobile command centers
• Community – converted public and private facilities set up as testing centers

By Moris & Associates 

Force majeure excuses contractual nonperformance, when unforeseen events beyond the control of both parties either make contract performance impracticable or frustrate the purpose of the performance.

Does COVID-19 qualify as a Force Majeure Event?

WHO declared COVID-19, aka Coronavirus, a pandemic. Therefore, if the force majeure clause stipulates specific events such as epidemics, quarantine, biological contamination or other public health emergency, Coronavirus is very likely to fall under this definition.

In the aftermath of the 2003 SARS outbreak, courts in the PRC held that the outbreak was in the category of an epidemic for the purposes of force majeure, although that interpretation was not applied consistently elsewhere.

If the force majeure clause is silent on pandemics, Coronavirus will not automatically constitute a force majeure. However, given that government announced restrictions on travel, movement, and large gatherings, another possible argument is “acts of government.”

For example, some restaurants and bars, which are shutdown as a result of a government order might be able to invoke force majeure clause to withhold rent.

Do all commercial leases contain a force majeure clause?

No. Not all leases contain a force majeure clause.

The best course of action is to have a lawyer review your lease to determine whether it contains a force majeure provision.

What if the contract doesn’t have force majeure clause?

If you cannot find force majeure clause in your contract, you still can rely on the common law defenses:

• Impossibility: performance is no longer objectively possible because of a supervening event.
• Impracticability.
• Frustration of purpose.

If you need an assessment of your lease, Moris & Associates is offering a free review of your commercial lease for Members of the Italy America Chamber of Commerce.