New Bribery Act and its impact on exporters

Dear SITG member,

I am sure you remember that at the SITG meeting back in September 2010 Leah Finnegan from Birketts llp addressed us on the topic of the new Bribery Act and its impact on exporters. Whilst chatting to Leah at last week’s SITG meeting she was kind enough to inform me that it has just been announced that the implementation of this Act has been postponed slightly. I therefore wanted to keep you informed of this as I know it was a current issue for many. Leah summarises the announcement as follows:

"It was announced last week that the planned April implementation of the new Bribery Act has been pushed back as a result of the Coalition Government review of the Act. The Ministry of Justice are considering amendments to the guidance for organisations regarding the adequate procedures to be implemented in light of the Act. It is therefore likely that the Act will not come into force until later in the year as the Ministry of Justice are obliged to give a three month period between final guidance being published and the Act coming into force in order to give organisations sufficient time to implement adequate procedures.

However, whilst this means that there may be further amendments to the draft guidance to businesses, it is likely that many of the general principles will remain the same and so organisations should not be dissuaded from starting preparatory steps now."

Should you want to contact her she can be reached at

Direct dial: 01473 406275

Direct fax: 01473 406391

Leah-Finnegan@Birketts.co.uk

And don’t forget her original presentation can be found at the SITG website www.sitg.org.uk

Best regards and happy exporting,

Jim

Jim Fanshawe

Manager – Suffolk International Trade Group

jim@sitg.co.uk

www.twitter.com/JimFanshawe