Richard ("Tad") Ferris is a partner at Holland & Knight and a principal with the firm's China Team. Mr. Ferris co-leads the firm's work in the China regulatory and government relations areas.
Mr. Ferris helps multinational corporations, associations and other entities develop and implement successful investment strategies that minimize product and other regulatory and government relations risks in the China market. Mr. Ferris has more than 15 years of experience in working with Chinese government agencies, multinational corporations and multilateral institutions.
Mr. Ferris is best known in corporate and Chinese government circles for his leadership and work in the product, environmental, health and safety areas. Mr. Ferris's work also involves assisting clients with addressing similar issues in other Asian jurisdictions, through management of local counsel and applying his extensive experience in working with foreign attorneys and dynamic regulatory programs to client projects.
Mr. Ferris' China practice focuses on product border restrictions and registration, environmental compliance planning and due diligence, hazardous substance restriction ("RoHS"), product registration, air pollution control, waste electronic and electrical product ("WEEE") recycling, hygiene regulation, pre-market certification and associated testing requirements, chemical registration, product design standardization, regulated materials transportation, end-of-life product and materials disposition, worker health and safety, employment/labor management, emergency planning and associated advocacy directed at government agencies and affiliates.
Mr. Ferris has acted as an comparative law consultant for United Nations organizations, development banks and foreign government institutions and agencies, including developing-country organizations such as China's National People’s Congress, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, National Development Reform Commission and Ministry of Environmental Protection, as well as Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration. He has also testified before Asian legislatures on issues related to the implementation of national and local legislation.
Mr. Ferris studied with the National Taiwan University Faculty of Law and has lectured at the World Bank and Peking, Soochow, National Taiwan and Yale Universities and Hellenic College on comparative law topics. Mr. Ferris has published numerous works on Chinese and transnational regulatory issues.
Mr. Ferris is co-chair of the United States Council for International Business China Committee and, among other positions, he had the honor of serving as comparative law counsel to senior members of Asian governments. Mr. Ferris co-established and is counsel to the China Roundtable, a group of multinational corporations focusing on the environmental, health and safety, government affairs and product supply chain issues faced in the China market.