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Commercial and Trade Law Research Group

Research project: FORK- Fraud-Free Food and Regulatory Know-How, funded by the Academy of Finland and UEF 2019-2023

How can consumers be sure that they eat what they think they eat? The FORK project responds to the trends of power consumerism, personalized nutrition services and digitalization of food commerce by developing better regulation for a modified food chain.

International partner: Fighting Food Frauds regarding Foods with Intentionally Added Pharmaceutical Products, funded by the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation, 2019-2022. The FFF-project aims to identify patterns of food fraud and seek solutions by examining experiences of other jurisdictions. Economically motivated food adulteration adding pharmaceuticals in foods as Chinese traditional medicine is a growing issue in food manufacturing largely contributing to food safety problems in China.

Book project: K Lindroos, L Montagnani and K Klafkowska Wasniowska: Freedom and Responsibility of Online Platforms, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019-2021.European values include upholding free movement in the single market, while ensuring responsibility and accountability in the digital single market. All regulators face the same dilemma: how to strike a balance between these values structuring the role of platforms in preserving fundamental values.

Book project: K Lindroos, L Tammenlehto: Moderni immateriaalioikeus ja alustatalouden innovaatiot, Talentum Publishing 2019-2020.

Hang Nguyen (hang.nguyen@uef.fi)

 

 

Hang Nguyen is a Post-Doc Researcher at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) specializing in Intellectual Property (IP) Law. Currently, her research concerns farmers’ privileges in Vietnamese Law compared to the European Union (EU) Law. As an agricultural country, Vietnam’s IP agriculture-related regulations, such as plant variety and farmer’s privileges, are not very developed; meanwhile, these regulations are more advanced in the EU. The comparison between the EU and Vietnam shows what is missing and what can be applied to Vietnam laws. Also, this research points out the possibility to protect Vietnamese agriculture products under other regimes rather than plant variety such as certification marks, collective marks, geographic indications, etc.

Hang Nguyen is a Lecturer at the faculty of Civil Law – Ho Chi Minh City University of Law (HCMU Law), Vietnam. She teaches IP Law, Civil Law, Personal Rights for undergraduate and LL.M students at HCMU Law and other universities as a guest lecturer. She obtained her Master and Doctoral degrees at the Graduate School of Law, Nagoya University, Japan. Her LL.D Dissertation and LL.M thesis were about comparative issues related to trademark laws among the United States, the EU, Japan, and Vietnam. She moved to Finland joined UEF because its Law School offers broad, wide, and profound courses on IP; it is possible to examine different fields related to IP, such as IP and Food/Food Fraud; IP and Internet or IP and International Trade.

 

 

Harri Kalimo (harri.kalimo@uef.fi)

The economy and the environment are fundamental elements of sustainable Finnish, European and indeed global futures. The EU continues to strive towards a more competitive economy, while it at the same time faces enormous environmental challenges in many areas from resource use to biodiversity and climate change. Moreover, these environmental and economic challenges are tightly intertwined. The search for increasing global welfare needs to take place within the limited boundaries of the natural resources available today and for the generations to come. This challenge promises on the other hand also opportunities for those that are the most advanced in “greening their economies”.

These societal challenges and opportunities are at the core my professorship on the “circular economy” and the EU and international economic law. The societal objectives and the support for achieving them takes to a notable extent place in the laws and policies that govern the fast evolving environmental and economic sectors, and their interactions in Finland, the EU and beyond. The objective of my professorship is to deliver theoretically advanced, policy relevant research and education on this environment-economy nexus, focusing on the circular economy, sustainable trade agreements and green public procurement.

 

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Husen Tura (husen.tura@uef.fi)

Between March and September 2020, he worked as a visiting researcher at the University of Helsinki Faculty of Law. He was an Early Stage Researcher at the UEF Law School between January 2016 and December 2019 where he was responsible to conduct scholarly research relating to his doctoral dissertation entitled “The Right to Food and Land in Ethiopia” and teaching courses on EU Food Law and Food Law and Policy.

He had also worked as a lecturer in law at three public universities in Ethiopia between August 2011 and December 2015. These are Addis Ababa University School of Law, Ambo University School of Law, and Wolaita Sodo University School of Law. In addition to teaching undergraduate law courses on contract law, international trade law, investment law, and legal research methods, Tura has published academic papers in interdisciplinary subjects such as the right to food, corporate governance, smallholder’s land rights, access to justice, legal aid, directors’ remuneration, WTO law and merger regulation. His papers appeared in refereed journals such as Land Use Policy, Third World Quarterly, Nordic Journal of Human Rights, African Journal of Legal Studies and International Human Rights Law Review, amongst others.

Dr Tura obtained his Doctorate Degree in Law (LL.D) from the UEF Law School in March 2020.

Jeremy Smith (jeremy.smith@uef.fi)

I carry out research on the recent and contemporary history on the countries of the Former Soviet Union. At present, there is an especial emphasis on the five countries of Central Asia. My research interests range from very specific, localized events and their impacts, to broad understandings of the interactions of time and space and the legacies of empires and long-distance trade routes on peripheral landscapes. My current projects involve work on post-Soviet borders, the role concern for ethnic Russians in neighbouring countries plays in Russian policy making, and constitutional arrangements and understandings of national minority rights in new post-Imperial countries.

Kateryna Holzer (kateryna.holzer@uef.fi)

At UEF, Kateryna Holzer leads a project on Regulatory Cooperation on Carbon Standards (RECOSTA), a work package in a project on Voluntary carbon offsetting in (climate) action: Perception coalitions, representations, and regulation (OFFCORR) and a Joint Nordic Master’s Programme (NOMPEL) course on International Economic Law and Green Transitions.

She has been working in climate change and energy research, teaching and consultancy since 2009, with a focus on trade rules and measures stimulating green economy transition and sustainable development. Kateryna is a member of the Climate Change and International Environmental Law research group at the Center for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law (CCEEL), the Platform on International Energy Governance, Climate Strategies and a board member of the Swiss Energy Law Association.

She was formerly a visiting scholar at the WTO Trade and Environment Division and worked as a postdoc at the World Trade Institute in Bern and as an assistant professor at the Academy of Foreign Trade in Kyiv. Kateryna holds a PhD in Law and a Master of International Law and Economics from the University of Bern, as well as a PhD in Economics from Ukraine, a Master of International Management from the Ukrainian Academy of Foreign Trade and a Bachelor of Economics from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

Kati Kulovesi (kati.kulovesi@uef.fi)

I hold LL.M degrees from the University of Helsinki and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). My PhD is also from the LSE, focusing on the challenges of the environment and legitimacy at the World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement System.

I am also affiliated with the 3E Center at the Brussels School of Governance, the Vrije Universiteit Brussels, with the Erik Castren Institute for International Law and Human Rights at the University of Helsinki, as well as with the Earth Negotiations Bulletin / International Institute for Sustainable Development.

My main research interests are international, EU, national and comparative climate change law, as well as international economic law and international legal theory. I also very much enjoy multidisciplinary climate change research both with other social scientists and natural scientists. I work closely with the UEF Research Group on Atmospheric Physics and with other climate scientists within the Atmospheric and Climate Competence Center Flagship.

Beyond academia, I have worked as legal adviser and consultant, inter alia, for the Finnish Government, the World Bank, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, European Commission, Nordic Council of Ministers, IUCN, International Institute for Sustainable Development, International Trade Center, World Resources Institute and Nordic Environment Finance Corporation.

 

Katja Weckström (katja.weckstrom@uef.fi)

My research focuses on emerging markets and the evolving regulatory framework for commerce. I concentrate on the role of law and trade in shaping the global economy, which directly impacts national and regional economies. My research targets regulation that may enable growth and remove barriers to trade and commercial development. Global transactions impact the regulator’s ability to control actors and digital content as well as reducing risks and preventing harm to consumers. Hybrid governance models and institutions are necessary to govern international distribution chains to detect fraudulent activity and promote innovative entrepreneurship.
Technological development surpasses regulation that is mainly geared towards real world commerce. Digitalization does not replace, but transforms international chains of commerce and creates opportunities for new business innovations. Trade in physical goods remains relevant, yet now trade revolves around digital content and the service economy. My research focuses on grey areas or gaps in commercial regulation. Thematically I focus on the areas of internet, IPRs and food law.
The focus on IPRs relates to policing criminal activity and utilizing protection schemes to further entrepreneurship, especially protecting innovative SMEs in global markets and developing countries and capitalizing on the potential in food innovation to enhance food security and sustainable business models in food development.

Laura Tammenlehto (laura.tammenlehto@uef.fi)

Laura Tammenlehto (LL.D.) works as commercial law senior lecturer and project researcher at UEF Law School. Tammenlehto’s research focuses on intellectual property rights and criminal law, especially copyright and trademark infringements and food fraud.

Sébastien Noël (sebastien.noel@uef.fi)

Research interests: European energy law, International trade law, Public international law

Sébastien Noël’s current doctoral resarch emphasizes on how to achieve greenhouse gas emissions reduction with hydrogen: “Assessing the EU energy, trade, and transport policies under the World Trade Organization rules”

 

Sébastien Noël holds an advanced master (LLM) in European Union law at the Institute for European Studies (2018) and a Master in Public and International law (2017) delivered at the Free University of Brussels.