Jasper Helder Quoted in GIR on Dutch Export Control Guidance to Curb Human Rights Violations

Global Investigations Review has quoted Akin Gump international trade partner Jasper Helder in the article “The Netherlands publishes anti-torture-focused export control guidance.” The article reports on a move by the Dutch government to push companies to prevent their products from being used to violate human rights abroad.

The new guidance, according to the article, instructs companies to embrace strong controls on exports that would include assigning responsibility for overseeing the process to either a department or specific person that is separate from the sales team. Companies are also urged to create screening procedures that can determine which countries are subject to EU sanctions

Helder said the Dutch government “likes to take a front-runner role when it comes to human rights requirements in export controls and that is reflected in these guidelines.”

The guidelines essentially should have a wide application, Helder added: “The impact of these controls, even though the Netherlands itself is relatively small and has a relatively small market, is significant because the number of global supply chains which run through the Netherlands is quite substantial.”