BRUSSELS (AP) — The U.S. and European Union have announced approval of a new data privacy agreement that EU regulators say will impose stricter obligations on American companies to safeguard the personal data of individuals.

The Privacy Shield accord, which EU officials said takes effect immediately, was announced Tuesday at a joint news conference in Brussels by EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova and U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.

In prepared remarks, Jourova called the Privacy Shield "a robust new system to protect the personal data of Europeans and ensure legal certainty for businesses."

The new system comes after the European Court of Justice ruled in October 2015 that the previous Safe Harbor agreement governing trans-Atlantic data flows was invalid.