Dear {{lead.First Name:default=Subscriber}},

In March 2018, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued new and updated regulations relating to US sanctions against North Korea. These implemented three executive orders signed since 2015 and referenced two federal laws – the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act (NKSPEA), and Title III of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), the latter signed by President Trump in August 2017.

The introduction of CAATSA underscores the need for businesses to make their risk management practices more robust, argues Donna Westerman, vice-president, head of consumer and retail at Verisk Maplecroft.

“This is something that will benefit companies more broadly given the global tightening of legislation around the presence of forced labour in supply chains. And they should waste no time in setting the wheels in motion,” she says.

Firstly, procurement departments need to gather more granular evidence – at company, industry, and country levels – and with greater frequency, in order to assess actual and potential risks.

Secondly, they need to review and strengthen their mitigation strategies to both improve their oversight of key suppliers and develop responses to the potential discovery of forced labour.

Read more on this topic here.

Kind regards,

Vicky Beckett

Editor, The Global Treasurer