Regulatory Update

Berlin – October 29, 2026 -- More than 80 percent of domestic workers worldwide labor without a contract or social protection, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). A commentary in the German daily nd.DerTag calls this a structural feature of an economy that devalues female employment, and demands binding rules from governments.

Informal domestic work leaves millions without health or pension cover

The commentary argues that Germany is no exception. It says households delegate cleaning and care work to migrant women while debating work-life balance. The millions of mostly informal workers cannot upskill or pay into health or pension insurance, which the commentary says leads directly to old-age poverty.

It also says constitutional privacy protection has for years served as grounds to refuse workplace inspections behind apartment doors.

Berlin – October 29, 2026 -- Property developers in Germany remain legally responsible for site safety even when they hand work to specialist contractors, and failing to act on visible hazards can lead to civil damages claims and, in serious cases, criminal liability, according to statutory accident insurer BG BAU.

Duty of care applies regardless of who performs the work

The duty, known in Germany as Verkehrssicherungspflicht, requires developers to prevent hazards to third parties such as passers-by, neighbors and site visitors. BG BAU Prevention Director Björn Kass stated that the obligation applies whether the developer acts directly or commissions outside firms.

BG BAU, which covers more than three million insured persons, about 614,000 commercial companies and roughly 48,000 private construction projects, said developers and executing companies must identify hazards early and put suitable safeguards in place.

WASHINGTON – October 29, 2026 -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is pairing criminal prosecutions with new filing rules to pursue importers that conceal hazards, after an $8 million fine in April 2026 and prison terms of 38 and 40 months in June 2025. Acting Chairman Peter A. Feldman set out the approach in a keynote at the 19th International Law Enforcement Intellectual Property Crime Conference in Bangkok.

Executives of Gree USA received prison terms over concealed fire hazards

Two Gree USA executives were sentenced in June 2025 for concealing fire hazards in defective dehumidifiers. The products were linked to more than 450 reported fires, over $19 million in property damage and four potentially associated deaths.

WASHINGTON – October 29, 2026 -- The U.S. Department of Commerce has issued antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders on imports of van-type trailers and subassemblies from China. The orders will remain in effect for at least five years, according to the American Trailer Manufacturers Coalition (ATMC), which filed the underlying petitions.

Commerce orders follow affirmative ITC injury finding on Sept. 25, 2026

The ATMC filed AD/CVD petitions with Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on Nov. 20, 2025. The petitions targeted dumped and subsidized trailer products from Canada, China and Mexico. The ITC issued an affirmative final injury determination on all three countries on Sept. 25, 2026. Commerce had also made final affirmative determinations on dumping and subsidies for China.

United States – October 29, 2026 -- Section 848 of the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act restricts the U.S. Department of Defense from operating or procuring certain drones tied to China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, and its reach extends past the aircraft's assembly location to components, software and data services.

Section 848 covers flight controllers, radios, cameras and data storage

A drone assembled in the United States or another approved country is not automatically NDAA compliant. Restricted components, software or data services used elsewhere in the system can disqualify it. Buyers must trace the origin of flight controllers, radios, data-transmission devices, cameras and gimbals. Ground-control systems, operating software, network connectivity and data storage also affect compliance.

RESTON – October 29, 2026 -- SpiderOak has been accepted into the Defense Innovation Unit's (DIU) Blue UAS Recognized Assessor Program, authorizing the zero-trust cybersecurity provider to evaluate unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and related ground control platforms against US Government requirements under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

SpiderOak and Ridgeline International build a joint assessor team

SpiderOak will run the evaluations through its recently launched Tactical Edge Cyberservices. Partner Ridgeline International will handle UAS hardware penetration testing, reverse engineering assessments and subcomponent supply chain forensics, including country-of-origin vulnerability analysis.

Berlin – October 29, 2026 -- The German Bundestag passed a law on October 29, 2026 that extends notarial video procedures to stock corporation (AG) formation, GmbH share transfers and powers of attorney for financing rounds. The new rules take effect on October 29, 2026, subject to Bundesrat review.

Law widens online scope beyond GmbH formation, available since 2022

Founding a GmbH by video has been routine since 2022. Formations, articles of association amendments and capital increases (financing rounds) can already be notarized online. The new law adds standalone GmbH share transfers and powers of attorney for financing rounds.

It also opens online procedures for:

WASHINGTON – October 28, 2026 -- The Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) has called for right heart failure (RHF) to be recognized as a distinct clinical syndrome rather than a secondary complication of left-sided heart disease, in a Scientific Statement published in the Journal of Cardiac Failure.

The statement, titled Right Heart Failure: An HFSA Scientific Statement, consolidates current evidence into a structured framework for earlier recognition and more consistent management. It cites longer hospitalizations, heavier ICU use and frequent readmissions as consequences that strain the healthcare system.

Berlin – October 28, 2026 -- The European Union has formally asked Norway for a transition period of at least six months after publication of its final plant health rules. The request follows industry warnings that the draft could have significantly hampered EU nursery stock exports, according to the German Nursery Association (BdB).

Soil and substrate requirements threaten field-grown stock trade

The European Nurserystock Association (ENA) and its member associations reviewed Norway's planned changes to its plant health law. The draft is broadly closer to the European plant health system. However, new requirements for soil and growing media on plants for planting would have affected large parts of the nursery trade.

Field-grown woody plants, which are typically traded with root balls, would have faced particular practical problems. Re-export of plants via other EU member states is also a central issue.

Dusseldorf – October 28, 2026 -- Germany's industrial health economy generated about EUR 101.5 billion in gross value added in 2025, but slow certification and thin growth capital are keeping innovations out of clinical practice, according to a new paper from the Innovationsrat Deutschland.

The sector employs roughly one million people and accounts for about 7 percent of German exports. More than half of the medical device manufacturers surveyed in a study commissioned by the European Commission wait over 19 months for certification under the EU Medical Device Regulation.