Publication date: May 05, 2026

The first act of Polish-British military cooperation, preceding Poland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was the Agreement on Military Cooperation between the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Poland and the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, signed on October 30, 1995. Under the Agreement, bilateral cooperation between Poland and the United Kingdom covered more than a dozen areas, primarily: defense policy; arms control and confidence- and security-building measures; verification activities under international agreements, including joint inspections and observation flights; planning principles; organizational structures of the armed forces; personnel policy; military law; education in the armed forces; training of military and civilian personnel; the role of the armed forces in peacetime; participation of the armed forces in humanitarian operations and during natural disasters; maritime search and rescue; military administration; military medicine; cartography and hydrography; research and development activities; and environmental protection within the armed forces, with the possibility of expanding to other forms of cooperation and modifying existing provisions. In 2002, this was supplemented by a separate memorandum of understanding between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning the conduct of military exercises and training and the provision of host nation support. Under the agreement, as part of its general obligations, the host nation is to issue consent and take actions to facilitate the hosting forces in: conducting agreed exercises and training; moving troops along national land, air, and sea routes; moving military equipment, weapons, ammunition, and supplies along these routes; using airport and port facilities; and using local resources to meet the host forces’ supply and equipment needs. Furthermore, the host nation: authorizes host force personnel to use lethal warfare (live ammunition) at agreed locations; provides liaison personnel; informs them of applicable national regulations; assists with customs and settlement matters; and ensures the standard of goods and services provided. These host forces must: conduct exercises and training in accordance with their implementing agreements and other applicable regulations; reimburse the host nation for the costs of supplying goods and services other than those provided free of charge; return borrowed items in unaltered condition; comply with customs regulations; Comply with host nation regulations and procedures, including those related to environmental protection; notify the host nation of shipments of ammunition and hazardous materials, store and use them in accordance with applicable regulations, and provide liaison personnel as needed . In matters of discipline, authorized host nation authorities have the right to detain host military personnel, but must immediately inform their superiors. The host nation exercises jurisdiction over host military personnel within the framework of the general penal system.

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Concluding international trade agreements is becoming increasingly easier and risk-free. International trade underpins the global economy more than ever before, due to globalization and the increasing unification of legal provisions governing this matter, along with the expansion of international agreements and intergovernmental cooperation. However, international law does not always address the needs of complex relationships between entities from different countries, which leads to a lack of certainty and predictability in legal transactions. To stabilize international contractual relations, efforts are being made to standardize private law at the international level and adapt state regulations to the needs of cross-border trade. This task is becoming increasingly easier due to the rapid development of new technologies and the digitization of organizational centers. Organizations such as the Hague Conference on Private International Law are engaged in the unification of private law.

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Publication date: March 16, 2026

The concept of import tax

According to Article 2, point 7 of the Polish Value Added Tax Act of 11 March 2004, the import of goods should be understood as “the import of goods from a third country into the territory of the European Union.” Generally speaking, import taxes are charged by the customs authority of a given country or region for shipments originating abroad. However, this does not mean that a fee must be paid for every international shipment. Many countries and organizations (primarily the European Union) apply de minimis threshold. This is the minimum order value, determined in a given country, below which import taxes are not charged. For example, in the European Union, pursuant to Article 23, paragraph 1 of Regulation 1186/2009 establishing a Community system of customs duty reliefs, shipments from third countries containing goods of negligible value are exempt from customs duties. According to Article 23, paragraph 2 of that regulation, these goods do not exceed a value of EUR 150 per shipment.

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Publication date: March 16, 2026

The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has introduced a new regulation called the 50% Rule, requiring every exporter to verify the ownership of parties to a transaction before shipping products. Previous name verification is no longer sufficient. BIS has expanded its end-user screening regulations to an unprecedented range of (and opaque) product and business relationship categories. If at least 50% of a company’s shares are owned by one or more entities on the BIS List or the Military End-User List (MEU), the company is automatically subject to the same restrictions as the owner. The BIS Entity List includes individuals, businesses, government organizations, and addresses subject to specific licensing requirements for the export, re-export, and transfer of goods within a given country. Previously, entities legally distinct from those on the list were not subject to licensing requirements, and the current expanded list includes thousands of subsidiaries, parent companies, and sister companies. This rule is intended to prevent situations where companies affiliated with sanctioned entities continue to operate freely because they are not named. This regulation is intended to fill a significant gap in the restricted entity lists and strengthen the overall control system in the United States. Furthermore, the introduction of this regulation significantly expands the licensing requirement; a recipient not listed on any of the above lists may still be subject to an export ban. Furthermore, if a company fails to verify the ownership of its contractors, it risks sanctions and loss of export privileges. Current tools are no longer sufficient, and an analysis of the ownership structure has become necessary. This regulation is similar to the 50% Rule of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). BIS also introduced a new “red flag”: if there’s uncertainty about a potential counterparty’s ownership structure, the transaction cannot proceed without additional verification or licensing. This requires firms to obtain ownership information, document their arrangements, and halt the transaction if there’s a lack of transparency.

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Publication date: February 25, 2026

Importing goods is a key element of modern business operations, particularly in the small and medium-sized enterprise sector, which increasingly builds its competitive advantage based on access to foreign raw materials, components, and finished products. At the same time, importing carries a significant increase in legal, financial, and operational risk, stemming from differences in legal systems, significant geographic distance between contractors, and limited control over the production and transport of goods. Therefore, importing is not considered a complex legal and organizational process, solely as a commercial activity, but as a complex legal and organizational process requiring conscious risk management at every stage of implementation.

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