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On June 24, 2024, the European Union (EU) adopted a further package of sanctions against Russia, targeting the Country’s gas sector for the first time and imposing an array of new measures.

The so-called 14th package of measures targeting Russia is set out in the Regulation (EU) 2024/1745 and includes, among others, the following elements:

Energy

• Russian LNG transshipment through EU ports is prohibited following a 9-month transition period
• Russian LNG cannot be imported into terminals that are not connected to EU gas pipelines
• prohibition on future investments and exports to LNG projects under construction, such as Arctic LNG 2 and Murmansk LNG
• List of vessels supporting the Russian warfare and the energy sector and that have been banned from port entry and service provision.

Anti-circumvention measures

• EU parent companies must prevent their subsidiaries in third countries from engaging in sanctions-violating transactions;
• EU companies must conduct due diligence to prevent common high priority (CHP) goods from entering Russia and ensure that their foreign subsidiaries trading in CHP goods follow suit;
• EU companies may not be protected from liability if they did not comply with due diligence responsibilities, even if they had no reasonable suspicion of violating EU sanctions (see Decision (CFSP) 2024/1744);
• Individuals can face prosecution for both willfully circumventing EU sanctions and participation in such transactions; this also applies if the individual suspects or tolerates that sanctions are being circumvented.

Additional listings

• There are 116 further listings of 69 individuals and 47 entities with asset freezes and travel bans. The listings cover a wide range of Russian government sectors, including military companies, space engineering firms, chemical and explosive companies, and significant Russian energy companies.

Financial sector

• EU banks outside Russia are prohibited from using the Financial Messaging System of the Central Bank of Russia (SPFS), the Russian equivalent of SWIFT, to connect and carry out transactions;
• Transactions with third-country banks using SPFS are prohibited;
• Prohibition of transactions with Russian and third-party banks and crypto assets providers facilitating transactions supporting Russia’s defense-industrial base.

Trade

• Extension of the export restrictions on dual use/advanced technology items;
• Reinforced export bans on for vital sectors for Russia’s military economy, including chemicals, plastics, vehicles parts and machinery;
• Import ban on helium;
• Extension of the Common High Priority (CHP) list;
• Finetuning of the import ban on Russian diamonds.

Transport

• Prohibition of port access and services for listed vessels;
• Current EU road transport undertakings owned 25% or more by Russian individuals are prohibited from transporting goods into the EU; companies owned 25% or more by Russian individuals are also barred from becoming EU road transport undertakings

Useful links:
Q&A 14th package of restrictive measures against Russia (europa.eu)

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The European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), issued as Regulation (EU) 2024/1252, took effect on May 23, 2024.

The primary goal of the CRMA is to maintain and provide a secure and sustainable supply of Critical Raw Materials to the European Union. Annexes 1 and 2 to the Regulation list 34 critical materials, 17 of which are considered strategical because their demand is set to increase exponentially, as they are crucial for both the green and the digital transitions as well as for industrial value chains in general, and for strategic technologies in areas such as space and defense in particular: aluminium/bauxite/alumina*, coking coal, lithium*, phosphorus, antimony, feldspar, light rare earth elements*, scandium, arsenic, fluorspar, magnesium, silicon metal*, baryte, gallium*, manganese*, strontium, beryllium, germanium*, natural graphite*, tantalum, bismuth*, hafnium, niobium, titanium metal*, boron*, helium, platinum group metals*, tungsten*, cobalt*, heavy rare earth elements*, phosphate rock, vanadium, copper*, nickel*
(*strategic raw materials).

These materials are found in a variety of common appliances and in products essential to the EU’s economy, including smartphones, electric vehicles, wind turbines, semiconductors, and planes. For certain critical raw materials, the EU relies completely on one country, such as: heavy rare earth elements (100% from China), boron (98% from Turkey), or platinum (71% from South Africa).

The CRMA recognizes the dependence on Critical Raw Materials for the European internal market and economies, considers the high concentration of such raw materials within few third countries as a potential risk to their supply, and sets a multifaceted approach to both strengthen the value chain of these raw materials and cover their annual consumption by 2030:

• >10% domestic extraction
• >40% domestic processing
• >25% recycling
• <65% single-source (in this regard, the EU is already forming strategic alliances and encouraging raw mineral partnerships).

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Nell’ambito delle sue attività, Lugano Commodity Trading Association (LCTA) promuove il miglioramento delle condizioni quadro e l’attrattiva del Cantone Ticino, sia per le aziende operanti nel settore delle materie prime sia per i loro fondatori e collaboratori. Il Ticino è uno dei cantoni con le aliquote fiscali più alte per i cittadini, il Consiglio di Stato ha ora proposto un pacchetto di misure a loro favore. Gli elettori si recheranno alle urne il 9 giugno 2024, la LCTA raccomanda di votare SÌ alla Riforma fiscale.

La Riforma fiscale, che mira a modernizzare il sistema fiscale, a estendere i benefici a diversi tipi di famiglie e a ridurre l’onere fiscale per i dipendenti, può essere riassunta come segue:

• aumento delle deduzioni per le spese professionali da 2’500 a 3’000 franchi per il 2024 e il 2025 e a 3’500 franchi a partire dal 2026;
• riduzione delle aliquote in caso di donazione, eredità o successioni aziendale; introduzione di una nuova quota esente di 10’000 franchi; misure di sgravio in caso di successione aziendale;
• riduzione un’aliquota massima del 3% dell’imposizione dei capitali provenienti dalla previdenza;
• riduzione graduale dell’aliquota massima dell’imposta sul reddito dal 15,076% al 12% in 6 anni;
• riduzione lineare delle aliquote dell’imposta sul reddito delle persone fisiche a partire dal 2024 per compensare l’aumento del moltiplicatore al 100% (la riforma coincide con il ritorno del coefficiente d’imposta cantonale al 100% il 1° gennaio 2024, dopo essere stato ridotto temporaneamente al 97% negli anni 2020-2023).

LCTA sostiene l’iniziativa “Per evitare aumenti d’imposte a tutti” e raccomanda ai suoi membri di votare SÌ.

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Due diligence and transparency obligations in the area of minerals and metals from conflict zones and child labour as well as non-financial reporting obligations came into force in Switzerland on January 1, 2024. On March 15, 2024, the Council of the European Union approved the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D), which will affect both EU and non-EU companies with a significant turnover in the EU. In an increasingly complicated legislative framework, businesses must have the necessary tools in place to meet legal requirements and conduct focused due diligence.

Swiss Regulations

Following the rejection in 2020 of the Swiss popular initiative on mandatory environmental and human rights due diligence (commonly referred to as the “Responsible Business Initiative, RBI)”, the counterproposal sponsored by the Swiss Federal Council in the form of an amendment to the Swiss Code of Obligations came into force on January 1, 2024, providing non-financial reporting obligations as well as due diligence and transparency obligations in the area of minerals and metals from conflict zones and child labor.

Non-financial reporting obligations

As per Ordinance on Climate Disclosure (Italian version), starting from the fiscal year 2023, public companies, banks and insurance companies with 500 or more employees and at least CHF 20 million in total assets or more than CHF 40 million in turnover are obliged to report on non-financial matters and disclose publicly environmental, social, labor, human rights and corruption risks, as well as steps taken to address them (see Articles 964a-964c of the Code of Obligations).

Companies fulfilling these requirements but are controlled by a company falling within the abovementioned scope of application or having to prepare an equivalent report under foreign law, are exempt from the non-financial reporting obligations.

Due diligence and transparency in relation to metals and minerals from conflict zones and child labour

Companies exposed to risks in the sensitive areas of child labor and minerals from conflict zones must meet specific due diligence and reporting requirements if the thresholds for the import and processing of minerals and metals from conflict zones, set out in Annex I of the Ordinance on Due Diligence and Transparency Obligations in relation to Minerals and Metals from Conflict-Affected Areas and Child Labor (DDTrO) are exceeded (also see Articles 964k-964l of the Code of Obligations).

The minerals category includes ores, gold and concentrates containing tin, tantalum or tungsten. Metals are those containing or consisting of tin, tantalum, tungsten, or gold – also in form of by-products.

Due diligence obligations include implementing and maintaining a management system as well as establishing a supply chain policy and a supply chain traceability system.

The OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas and the Regulation (EU) 2017/821 serve as reference.

The Swiss Federal Council is now analyzing the implications of the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) for Swiss companies and is expected to decide on the next steps to take once the final version of the CS3D is released and the mechanisms by which the EU Member States will implement this Directive are known.

The EU CS3D

Following two failed attempts to gain approval, on March 15, 2024, the Council of the EU adopted a heavily watered-down version of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D), requiring EU and non-EU companies with activities in the EU to carefully manage social and environmental impacts throughout their entire supply chain. The next stage is for the EU Parliament to approve this “compromise text” (likely in April 20024). If approved, the CS3D regulations will then apply to companies with at least 1’000 employees and a turnover in the EU of €450 million, rather than 500 employees and a turnover of €150 million, as previously proposed by the Commission. Lower thresholds for high-impact businesses, such as textile manufacturing, food production, mineral extraction, and construction, have been eliminated. Although SMEs are not included in the scope of the Directive, they could be impacted by its provisions as contractors or subcontractors to the companies which are in the scope

Legislation in some Member States, such as Germany (Supply Chain Due Diligence Act or “Lieferkettengesetz”), France (Duty of Diligence Act or “Loi sur le devoir de vigilance”) or the Netherlands (Child Labor Due Diligence Act, or “Wet Zorgplicht Kinderarbeid”, and the draft supply chain law), will need to be adapted to CS3D. Businesses would be expected to be far more attentive when it comes to suppliers.

Source: SUISSENÉGOCE, completed by LCTA. This article was originally published on the LCTA website on March 14, 2024 and edited on March 19, 2024.

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Il Regno Unito introdurrà un proprio meccanismo di adeguamento del carbonio alle frontiere (CBAM) entro il 2027.

Lo ha annunciato il Cancelliere dello Scacchiere britannico Jeremy Hunt lo scorso 18 dicembre 2023 in un comunicato stampa, confermando che saranno colpiti ferro, acciaio, alluminio, fertilizzanti, idrogeno, ceramica, vetro e cemento, la cui produzione è particolarmente energivora, se importati da Paesi terzi. Ulteriori dettagli, tra cui l’elenco preciso dei prodotti che rientreranno nel campo di applicazione del CBAM saranno oggetto di consultazione nel 2024. Si delinea tuttavia già un ambito di applicazione più ampio rispetto all’omologo europeo.

La responsabilità applicata dal CBAM dipenderà dall’intensità delle emissioni di gas serra del bene importato e dalla differenza tra il prezzo del carbonio applicato nel Paese di origine (se presente) e il prezzo del carbonio che sarebbe stato applicato se il bene fosse stato prodotto nel Regno Unito.

La responsabilità del CBAM ricadrà direttamente sull’importatore dei prodotti importati che rientreranno nel campo di applicazione del CBAM, sulla base delle emissioni incorporate in tali prodotti. Il sistema non prevede l’acquisto o lo scambio di certificati di emissione, per contro lavorerà in modo coerente con il sistema ETS britannico per garantire che i prodotti importati siano assoggettati a un prezzo del carbonio paragonabile a quello sostenuto dalla produzione britannica, attenuando così il rischio di rilocalizzazione delle emissioni di carbonio.

Questo articolo è stato originariamente pubblicato su www.cc-ti.ch il 18.01.2024