Global trade compliance is evolving rapidly, presenting increasing complexities and heightened risks. Add to that geopolitical uncertainty, regional conflicts, protectionism, import tariffs, and targeted enforcement, and it’s clear that organizations must reevaluate how they manage cross-border operations to remain competitive and compliant.
While legal and compliance leaders have always faced challenges overseeing trade compliance programs, today’s environment seems especially volatile. Failure to keep up with regulatory changes or conduct thorough due diligence on third-party agents, logistics providers, and other vendors supporting trade-related transactions can expose organizations to significant financial and reputational risks. Gartner recommends three immediate actions for compliance teams to improve their oversight and mitigate trade compliance risk.
Action 1: Take a proactive role in global trade management
Legal and compliance leaders must move beyond passive monitoring and become routine business partners in trade compliance activities. This means developing and implementing export control policies, tracking regulatory changes, and collaborating with trade management teams. In smaller organizations, the legal function may assume responsibility for regulatory tracking and sharing updates with operational teams.
Key agencies to monitor for regulatory updates may include:
- U.S. Department of Commerce — Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)
- U.S. Department of State — Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (ITAR)
- EU Consolidated Financial Sanctions (CFSP)
- Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
- Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
- Monetary Authority of Singapore
- Canada Consolidated Autonomous Sanctions List
- United Nations Security Council
Legal and compliance leaders should familiarize themselves with common trade management activities and identify the owners of those processes within their organizations. For example, license management often requires collaboration between legal, compliance, and supply chain teams to ensure timely applications and renewals. Third-party due diligence focused on critical trade support vendors such as customs agents, shippers, and logistics providers must be ongoing, with continuous denied party and sanctions screening.
To provide effective oversight, legal and compliance leaders should engage colleagues across risk, finance, tax, supply chain, procurement, logistics, and sustainability to routinely evaluate the controls built into their trade compliance program, identify any gaps, and ensure all stakeholders are aware of new regulatory developments and/or trade restrictions which may impact the organization’s supply chain.
Action Items:
- Review export licenses by region, confirm validity, and track renewal dates.
- Document due diligence completed for higher-risk third parties (customs agents, shippers, logistics providers).
- Ask cross-functional peers key questions about trade program management, such as:
- How are we managing the impact of trade restrictions on our global supply chain?
- What risk mitigation measures are in place for new or updated regulations?
- Do we need improved regulatory intelligence?
- How will changes in policy affect our strategic trade priorities?
Action 2: Boost regulatory intelligence capabilities
Governments worldwide are expanding controls and using trade restrictions as economic and political levers. Legal and compliance leaders should anticipate increased due diligence requirements for third parties. Strengthening regulatory intelligence capabilities is essential to stay ahead of fast-changing requirements.
Three considerations:
- Map out regulatory response workflows and identify critical roles to ensure seamless escalation of business decisions driven by regulatory changes.
- Collaborate with government affairs teams to gain visibility into pending regulatory changes and avoid supply chain surprises.
- Track enforcement trends and consider potential government actions that may impact trade compliance.
Action items:
- Leverage regulatory intelligence solutions to monitor requirements across jurisdictions.
- Screen third parties for specially designated nationals (SDNs), politically exposed persons (PEPs), restricted Parties, fines, penalties, and sanctions violations.
Action 3: Evaluate and implement advanced trade management technology
Technology is a powerful ally in managing trade compliance risks. Advanced platforms offer solutions for import/export management, cross-border tracking, shipping logistics, supply chain risk mapping, sanctions screening, denied party screening, and regulatory intelligence.
Investing in trade management technology enables organizations to identify and escalate potential concerns early. Artificial intelligence (AI) can automate product classification, document verification, and customs declarations, which reduces processing times and improves accuracy. AI-powered analytics in many Global Trade Management (GTM) platforms offer predictive risk insights and support corporate security controls, which may help to prevent product theft and diversion.
A holistic trade management program is built on three foundational pillars: logistics, compliance, and finance, with capabilities for improved risk detection, regulatory monitoring, and process automation (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Pillars of a holistic trade management system
Source: Gartner (August 2026)
Action Items:
- Review and evaluate global trade management technology solutions. (GTM)
- Adopt best practices for denied party and sanctions screening.
- Renegotiate contracts and SLAs with critical vendors and suppliers to minimize supply chain, import, and export disruption, and reduce costs.
Conclusion
Trade compliance oversight is more critical than ever as global regulations become increasingly complex and enforcement intensifies. Legal and compliance leaders must take an active role in trade management, boost regulatory intelligence, and leverage advanced GTM technology to protect their organizations and remain competitive. By taking these three actions now, companies can better navigate uncertainty, manage risk, and build resilient supply chains for the future.
Antonia Donaldson is a Director Analyst in the Gartner Assurance Practice focused on supporting legal, compliance, and risk leaders. She has previously held compliance jobs at Levi Strauss & Co., VISA, Abbott, and Rivian.
