Doing Business In: VVGB – Independent International Law Firm Based in Brussels

VVGB is an independent international law firm based in Brussels.

The firm is specialised in providing advice and rendering assistance on international, EU and Belgian law. The firm’s clients consist of national and multinational corporations, associations and governments.

We advise public and private clients on all aspects of international trade and investment law.

Our lawyers have a remarkable experience with the EU institutions in Brussels, the GATT/WTO in Geneva, the PCA in The Hague and the ICSID in Washington DC. As we practise worldwide, we can call on a global network of experts. Most of our lawyers have worked together as a team for many years. We spare no efforts to obtain the best results for our clients.

The firm has a leading role in EU trade remedies investigations, having recently been involved in high profile cases, including Optical Fibre Cables, PVA, Biodiesel, Solar Panels, Silicon Metal, Solar Glass, Filament Glass Fibers, as well as multiple steel cases, such as Corrosion Resistant Steels, Hot-Rolled Flat Products SSHR,SSCR, GOES, Ductile Cast Iron Tubes and Pipes and the EU safeguard proceedings on imports of steel.

VVGB also assists clients in third country trade defence cases; most recently, in the United Kingdom, Thailand, South Africa, Brazil, Colombia, India, Canada, the United States, China, Egypt and the Eurasian Economic Union.

Furthermore, VVGB advises on the compatibility of domestic regulation with the EU’s international trade obligations. We have been actively involved in the EU’s negotiations of bilateral free trade and investment agreements inter alia with Thailand, Korea, Canada and Japan.

In the field of WTO litigation, VVGB represents the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) of China in the AD/CVD on Wine (Australia) case. In the past, VVGB represented MOFCOM in the EU-Footwear and the EU-Renewable Energy Sector cases.

VVGB also represented the Indonesian government in three WTO disputes concerning the EU’s cost adjustment practice in anti-dumping cases. This includes the EU-Biodiesel from Indonesia case.

VVGB lawyers have also assisted DG TAXUD in WTO disputes regarding the Tariff Treatment of Certain Information Technology Products and the US challenge to the EU Customs Union and advised another WTO member in Large Civil Aircraft. The practice also advises governments and industries on potential WTO issues ranging from marketing bans on chemical products to climate change initiatives, rules’ negotiations, subsidies, agriculture and REACH.

The firm is highly acclaimed as well for its advice on EU customs law, including customs classification and compliance, valuation, rules of origin, and REM/REC, both at the EU and the Member State level, and handled a major REM/REC case for over 25 leading footwear brands.

Our lawyers also advise governments and corporations on trade, intellectual property and investment matters arising in other parts of the world, including measures by third countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Egypt, South Africa and Türkiye.

In view of the EU’s new powers over international investment, the firm has extended its expertise in advising and representing clients in international investor-State arbitration.