Ana Lopes Meuwissen is a senior advisor in Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP's Washington, D.C., office. As a member of the Firm’s government affairs practice, Ms. Meuwissen will provide strategic government relations counsel and engage in legislative, regulatory and business development activities before Congress, the Executive Branch and related regulatory agencies on behalf of firm clients. Ms. Meuwissen will further assist in the growth and expansion of the Washington D.C. office’s transportation practice, drawing from her expertise and experience in representing corporations and industry coalitions in the automotive sector.

Prior to joining Nelson Mullins, Ms. Meuwissen was the Director of Government Relations for the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) in Washington, D.C. From 1999 to 2005, Ms. Meuwissen served as the lead Federal lobbyist for MEMA which represented the automotive parts industry, including several Fortune 500 companies, and the collective interests of over 800,000 employees in the U.S. Ms. Meuwissen developed and implemented the industry’s domestic and international trade policy priorities and provided strategic counsel on Federal and trade issues to the association’s Board of Directors and member companies. Her background includes extensive experience in the areas of Transportation Policy, Federal Regulation and the Rulemaking Process, Federal Appropriations and International Trade Policy and Trade Remedies.

During her service at MEMA, Ms. Meuwissen lobbied Congress and the Administration on behalf of the automotive supplier industry concerning the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act. As a result of her efforts, the automotive parts industry successfully amended a bill that would have imposed criminal penalties and onerous and unnecessary regulatory burdens on thousands of automotive parts manufacturers. Ms. Meuwissen further led the industry’s efforts to address the subsequent regulatory implementation of the Act, which mandated more than 10 separate rulemakings through the Dept. of Transportation.

Ms. Meuwissen’s experience with transportation safety issues includes experience with the federal regulatory rulemaking process and work before the Dept. of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In 2003-2004, Ms. Meuwissen represented automotive industry sector clients in efforts concerning the rewrite of the Federal standard for vehicle lighting products (FMVSS 108) and was instrumental in securing NHTSA’s commitment to proceed with the clarification of this more than 30 year old standard.

On behalf of industry sector companies, Ms. Meuwissen also pursued a number of appropriations requests through the House and Senate. In 2004, she successfully lobbied individual members of Congress and the House and Senate Committees of jurisdiction for the allocation of additional funds to allow for the expansion of NHTSA’s Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance. The funds were directed to enhance enforcement actions against noncompliant auto parts in the U.S. market, particularly in the lighting sector, which had adversely impacted the operations of legitimate manufacturers.

She also spearheaded the industry’s efforts to garner consumer tax incentives for the purchase of innovative and cutting edge safety technology on passenger vehicles and heavy duty trucks. This landmark initiative, encompassed in Intelligent Vehicle Technology legislation, provided individual manufacturers and companies with an opportunity to highlight their new safety component systems and to reinforce the automotive sector’s overall contribution to greater occupant safety through the development of advanced active and passive safety features.

Ms. Meuwissen also brings with her notable experience in the field of international trade and policy and trade remedies. She organized and led the auto parts industry’s successful 2002-2003 advocacy campaign to repeal the Section 201 steel tariffs. Ms. Meuwissen directly represented the industry’s efforts on this issue before the White House, the White House Council of Economic Advisors, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office, the Dept. of Commerce, the Dept. of Treasury and Congress. The efficacy of the industry’s efforts on this front garnered headlines in numerous publications including the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. Ms. Meuwissen is widely recognized as a leading authority on steel policy issues and trade remedies impacting the manufacturing sector.

In her capacity as Director of Government Relations for MEMA, Ms. Meuwissen further served as the industry’s representative to the United Nations’ Working Party 29 on transportation and international harmonization issues. She assisted in brokering a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and the Moroccan auto parts industries in 2003 and also represented the industry in hemispheric-wide negotiations concerning the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

Ms. Meuwissen served as the industry’s lead lobbyist on its efforts to address foreign export restrictions on raw materials, working in tandem with the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, the House and Senate Committees of jurisdiction and the House and Senate Automotive Caucuses to seek the removal of such barriers. She also assisted in a number of the industry’s filings and appearances before the International Trade Commission on concerns related to steel.

In 2003, her interest in transportation safety issues and trade also led her to engage in the industry’s efforts on behalf of comprehensive anti-counterfeiting legislation. Ms. Meuwissen served as one of the primary lobbyists in support of the House passage of Rep. Joe Knollenberg’s (R-MI) Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act. She has also worked with the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, Congress and the Dept. of Commerce to raise awareness of intellectual property concerns and to urge U.S. action against counterfeiting and piracy in countries across the globe.

Ms. Meuwissen has further provided government relations services and strategic counsel to companies in reference to the following policy areas: Asbestos Litigation Reform, Energy Legislation, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards, European Union Legislation/Regulation, Trade Promotion Authority, R&D Tax Credit, Tort Reform, Manufacturing Tax Credits and Corporate Accountability/Sarbanes-Oxley.

Prior to joining MEMA, Ms. Meuwissen worked as a political analyst for The Washington Post Company where she specialized in providing tailored analysis on tax, gaming and telecommunications issues for private clients. She also worked at CARMA International where she provided crisis communications counsel, media analysis and strategic services to organizations and companies such as American Express, Sprint and the American Plastics Council.

Ms. Meuwissen earned a Master of Arts degree in Political Theory & International Relations, with honors, from the University of Westminster’s Center for the Study of Democracy in London in 1998. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government with a concentration in International Affairs from Georgetown University. She is an active member of the Georgetown University Alumni Association and has served as a Board member of the Washington, DC Georgetown Alumni Society. Ms. Meuwissen is also a member of the Women in International Trade professional society.

Born to Portuguese parents, Ms. Meuwissen holds dual citizenship with the U.S. and the European Union. She is fluent in Portuguese and proficient in French and Spanish.