EBC Newsletter – December 6, 2023

• the Materials Committee, whose issues traditionally have been tariff-related but have moved more and more to include human rights, sanctions and export control;
• the Legal Services Committee, that has of late taken on a bigger involvement in personal data and ESG;
• the Food & Agriculture Committee, a sector that has seen quite some changes thanks to the EPA for tariffs. However, for non-tariff issues it is business as usual;
• the Sustainability Committee will talk about climate change, but also overall sustainability governance;
• EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations), one of our supporting organisations, will also present their view on pharmaceuticals and vaccines.

To register, send an email to: [email protected] The EBC team is looking forward to seeing you there!

I’d also like to draw your attention to two other events:

On 13 December, (14:00-19:00, EU Delegation), the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation, Shiga International Patent Office and Studio Torta are organising a seminar in English on “The European Unified Patent System and Legal Considerations on Generative AI in the EU and Japan”. In the first part, this seminar will offer an overview on the recent development of the Unitary Patent system in Europe. In the second part, it will cover topics related to the growing adoption of generative Artificial Intelligence technologies and applications. The seminar will discuss the current situation from a European and Japanese perspective.
Please register from the following link: https://jp.surveymonkey.com/r/6GF288W

On 13 December (15:00-18:00, Nikkei conference room), Sapporo city will hold a “Seminar on Attracting Businesses to Sapporo: Navigating Sapporo’s Potential through ESG” with its mayor as one of the speakers. Sapporo city is particularly focused on attracting foreign-affiliated companies, and recently exhibited at Productronica, an exhibition held in Munich, Germany, to encourage semiconductor and IT companies to come to Sapporo.

The EBC team is looking forward to hearing from you soon!

Valerie Moschetti
EBC Chief Operating Officer

• Japan joined a U.S.-led declaration to triple the world’s nuclear energy capacity by 2050 from 2020 levels to realize net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Twenty-two countries, including Britain, France and South Korea, supported the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy announced Dec. 2 to coincide the COP28 U.N. climate conference being held here. (The Asahi Shimbun)
• The Tokyo metropolitan government has pre-opened the Tokyo Innovation Base, a facility for domestic and international startups, investors, students and others to meet and develop partnerships in the capital’s Chiyoda Ward on Monday. (The Japan News)
• Japan’s labor ministry is considering subsidizing 10% of wages for those who work shorter hours to care for children under 2 years old, and aims to introduce the system from fiscal 2025. The grant amount was set based on wages for shorter hours so as not to exceed what they would earn if working full time, to ensure fairness with other staff. (The Mainichi)

If you are interested in joining a committee meeting, please contact the EBC to confirm the time and meeting place.