Export control: a guide for companies and professionals

'International Sanctions, Export Control and Compliance Programmes' is the title of a text, produced by lawyers Antonio de Capoa and Dario Gorji Varnosfaderani with FederUnacoma, to support Italian companies in their foreign trade activities by offering a comprehensive overview of the international trade restrictions in force, and an overview of the main operational tools to be adopted to avoid risks in foreign transactions

Exporting today requires in-depth knowledge by companies. In doing business they must ensure that the sale of their products, technologies and services on the international market does not conflict with the regulations in force in the various countries.

International sanctions and various forms of trade restrictions increasingly characterise the movement of international goods in our days, not always with the original purpose of ensuring peace and security but sometimes as a tool for actual trade 'conflicts'.

In order to enable European exporting companies to move more confidently in this complex environment, the European Union has prepared Recommendations No. 2019/1318 and No. 2021/1700 on Internal Compliance Programmes, and the so-called "dual-use" Regulation No. 2021/821, which makes them responsible by assigning them various tasks. These include risk assessment, the implementation of measures to ensure the control of each export and of the company's overall activity, through the adoption of Internal Compliance Programmes adapted to the internal organisation.

To support companies in this onerous task, lawyers Antonio de Capoa and Dario Gorji Varnosfaderani of de Capoa & Partners, together with FederUnacoma, have produced the guide 'International sanctions, export control and compliance programmes'.

As well as providing detailed information for companies to adopt Compliance Programmes, the text offers a comprehensive guide to export control, delving into the various checks that must be carried out at the export stage, including the so-called subjective check on purchasers and end-users, the objective check to verify the nature of the products or technology sold by the company and, finally, the geographical check, to prevent the marketing of products in areas of the world subject to embargoes.

The book also includes a focus on the European Union's restrictions on the Russian Federation and a summary of all current European sanctions against all non-European states. In detail, the guide is divided into six chapters: Export Control Compliance; Dual Use Regulations and the Importance of an Internal Compliance Programme; International Trade Restrictive Measures; How to Set Up an Internal Compliance Programme; Contractual Safeguards; and the Appendix.

Studio de Capoa & Partners, founded in 1986 and specialised in national and international law, operates in Italy in the cities of Bologna, Milan and Treviso and abroad in offices in Iran, Libya, Romania, Ukraine and Hungary.

The book, published by Wolters Kluwer and designed primarily for entrepreneurs, managers and customs officers, but also for students of various marketing and law faculties, can be purchased online on the main book sales platforms.