Vasil Kisil & Partners has a long-standing reputation for providing comprehensive international trade legal services of exceptional quality. We advise and provide expert representation to both Ukrainian and foreign clients doing business around the world. We support clients by addressing a range of trade and regulatory issues through strategic advice, advocacy, and representation in different dispute resolution proceedings, including international commercial arbitration. Our International Trade Group helps clients manage the risks and opportunities associated with the increasing regulation of international trade in goods and services.
Our team has day to day practice of handling the full range of international trade-related matters. Our practice includes advising and representing clients in variety of international trade transactions, trade finance, customs regulations, trade and other regulatory investigations as well as trade-related dispute resolution. Our International Trade practice extends to all aspects of importing and exporting, ranging from rapid response to crisis situations (such as penalty proceedings) to counseling on tariff preference programs.
The lawyers of International Trade Group have wide experience in various types of contracts, including sale and distribution contracts, franchise, license and concession agreements, agency agreements, confidentiality and consultancy agreements, IP rights and Know-How transfer agreements, leasing, etc. In our practice we regularly deal with international commercial contracts subject to foreign law. We have the capability to advice on law of other jurisdictions through the network of our corresponding law firms worldwide.
The International Trade team combines a deep knowledge of the law with a sound understanding of the commercial practicalities involved in all aspects of trade. The practice strives to keep abreast of the latest industry trends, market dynamics and competitive factors that affect our clients' business.
Our International Trade practice offers clients:
- An expertise and a diverse range of experience in all aspects of multilateral, regional and bilateral trade issues, both on the legal and trade policy side;
- Work closely with our clients’ accountants, consultants and other advisors to better advise our clients on the legal aspects of their operational policies, sales and marketing practices, financial affairs and supporting programs;
- Closely cooperation with other practice groups that advise on transnational business issues, including our corporate, antitrust, intellectual property, tax, litigation, international arbitration and other groups;
- Familiarity with all government agencies involved in international trade issues.
Our International Trade team has numerously represented the interests of both domestic and foreign producers, and international trade intermediaries - agents and distributors - by:
- Advising on setting up balanced contractual structures and schemes, recommendations on mitigation of contract-related risks;
- Providing advice and support within the course for contract negotiations;
- Drafting, negotiating and executing all types of agency and distribution contracts;
- Legal review of contractual scheme and contractual provisions concerning product liability issues and consumer protection compliance;
- Issuing legal opinions as to validity and enforceability of the relevant contract(s) being subject to foreign law from the Ukrainian perspective;
- Advising on applicable intellectual property issues;
- Consulting on minimisation of financial risks of contracts’ termination with consideration of the mandatory provisions of applicable law(s);
- Integrated advice on remedies available against “grey import” under international and domestic law;
- Counselling on other related legal issues such as competition and antitrust compliance matters, customs, tax, investments, transfers of technology, joint ventures etc.;
- Post-transaction support and overall legal support of contractual performance;
- Overall legal support related to contractual performance;
- Representing clients in relations with specific regulatory authorities and institutions; and
- Advising on relevant dispute resolution matters and representing clients in litigation and international arbitration.
Our lawyers frequently assist clients in taking an integrated approach to custom regulations compliance, which considers both the customs laws and related legal requirements in assessing business plans and compliance programs. One of our strengths is our attention to the panoply of laws that complement, and sometimes contradict, the customs laws. Our expertise among other, includes:
- Advising on structuring trade transactions so as to satisfy requirements of the customs laws;
- Legal review and assessment of prospective trade transactions and contractual documents with respect to customs compliance;
- Counselling on classification and valuation rulings and internal advice, establishing proper classifications and valuation at the lowest legally applicable duty and value rates;
- Advising on duty preference programs and addressing quota issues;
- Counselling on applicable marking requirements;
- Consulting on impact of customs classification and valuation rules, benefits available under preferential tariff arrangements, inward and outward processing, duty suspensions, and tariff quotas on the operational structure of our clients and helping to optimize the latter;
- Obtaining, on behalf of our clients binding rulings from the customs authorities and other expert institutions ensuring certainty to an importer with regard to the classification, valuation, country of origin, marking and applicability of special programs to an importers merchandise, which serves to eliminate any discrepancies in treatment of the imported goods;
- Representing clients in relations with specific domestic tax authorities and in courts in customs related disputes.
Our International Trade practice represents companies both start-up franchisors and franchisees and experienced one by:
- Consulting on developing and contract structuring of franchising relationship;
- Drafting, negotiating and executing franchise and license contracts;
- Legal review of contractual scheme and contractual provisions concerning product liability issues and consumer protection compliance;
- Legal review of contractual provisions with regard to price fixing compliance;
- Issuing legal opinions as to validity and enforceability of the relevant contract(s) being subject to foreign law from the Ukrainian perspective;
- Advising on applicable intellectual property issues;
- Counselling on minimisation of financial risks of contracts’ termination with consideration of the imperative norms of applicable law(s);
- Integrated advise on remedies available against “grey import” under domestic law;
- Advising on other related legal issues such as competition and antitrust compliance matters, customs, tax, investments, transfers of technology, joint ventures etc.;
- Post-transaction support and overall legal support of contractual performance;
- Representing clients in relations with specific regulatory authorities and institutions; and
- Counselling on relevant dispute resolution matters and representing clients in litigation and international arbitration.
Our International Trade practice specialists advise clients on the full range of international trade transactional issues including:
- Consulting on setting up contractual structures and trade schemes from trade-efficient perspectives, mitigation of related risks;
- Providing advice on general strategy for contract negotiations;
- Drafting, negotiating and executing all types of commercial contracts;
- Legal review of contractual scheme and contractual provisions concerning product liability issues and consumer protection compliance;
- Issuing legal opinions as to validity and enforceability of instruments used within the transactions;
- Post-transaction support and overall legal support of contractual performance;
- Consulting on all trade-related investment matters;
- Counselling on trade related legal issues such as licensing, customs, tax, foreign currency restrictions, competition and anti-trust, transfer pricing, intellectual property protection, countertrade, transfers of technology, joint ventures, restrictions on international investment, import and export restrictions;
- Representing clients in relations with specific regulatory authorities and institutions; and
- Counselling on relevant dispute resolution matters and representing clients in international arbitration.
We have extensive experience and knowledge on structured trade and commodity finance transactions relating to Ukraine as well as to other jurisdiction through the network of our corresponding law firms worldwide, to name but a few:
- Negotiating and drafting documented structures including advising on related tax issues and possible ways to mitigate transaction-related risks;
- Advising on export credit arrangements, export financings through advance payment facilities, documentary letters of credit, standby letters of credit, payment guarantees; warehouse financing, SPV structures, pre-export financing, insurance and securitization;
- Issuing legal opinions as to validity and enforceability of the used contract(s) and documents;
- Advising on applicable regulatory issues and representing clients in relations with specific regulatory authorities and institutions;
- Providing post-closing support;
- Counselling on relevant dispute resolution matters and representing clients in litigation and international arbitration.
Our firm has experience in advising and representing clients in special administrative proceedings, instituted by domestic industry seeking government protection either from dumped import, surge of imports or subsidized imports. Our International Trade practice team has advised and represented both domestic and foreign interests in trade investigation cases before the relevant Ukrainian governmental agencies as well as in cases initiated in foreign jurisdictions through the network of our corresponding law firms worldwide. Our services in trade investigations include:
- Advising national industries on both the legal and practical issues relating to instituting an anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard investigations in Ukraine;
- Counselling for foreign producers, importers, exporters on involvement in the case and developing strategy;
- Participating, on behalf of our clients, in anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard proceeding including completion of questionnaire responses, commentaries as well as any other submissions, preparation of and attendance at on-the-spot verifications by the relevant authorities, representation of clients at the hearings;
- Advising on reviews initiation and participation on behalf of our clients in review proceedings;
- Challenging the final decision of the relevant state authorities in the trade investigation; and
- Preventative planning relating to compliance with Ukrainian trade regulations.
We guide our clients successfully streamline processes associated with operations and management of international trade compliance in Ukraine as well as in other jurisdiction through the network of our corresponding law firms worldwide by:
- Advising multilateral, bilateral and domestic regulatory compliance, including export controls and trade sanctions;
- Consulting on developing and structuring of efficient and legally compliant import or export schemes of controlled goods or services; and
- Representing clients in relations with specific regulatory authorities and institutions.
Even though Ukraine has joined the WTO only in 2008, we have already advised to our clients on a number of the WTO related issues. Our International Trade practice has ranged from providing overall legal advice on regulatory changes due to the Ukraine’s WTO accession to counselling businesses on optimizing their trade schemes due to the regulatory changes within the process.
We together with our partners with extensive WTO practice can assist businesses and business associations, governmental agencies in trade negotiations to assessing the consistency of certain trade measures under the WTO Agreement as well as in the WTO dispute settlement proceedings.
