It's been more than three years since the Obama Administration launched its National Export Initiative (NEI), with much ballyhoo. The stated goal of the massive effort was to double U.S. exports within five years - from $1.57tr in 2009 to a projected $3.14tn in 2015.
Privacy policies, if written well, explain to customers exactly what data you are going to collect, and what you are going to do with it. Problem is, most retailers have no idea what data they are collecting, or what they are going to do with it. As a result, retailers end up writing privacy policies that are either false or misleading, and this can lead to big legal problems. In fact, it may be better to have a policy that says either "we have no idea what we are collecting and what we will do with it" or "we will collect everything we can and use it in any way we want." But that's not good public relations.
On March 25, 1911, fire swept through the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York City. One hundred and forty-six garment workers perished in the blaze, many of them trapped in the building because management had locked the exit doors. The youngest of the victims were 14. It was a horrifying tragedy, not atypical of working conditions during the so-called Progressive Era. Can we not, however, take comfort in knowing that those times are far behind us?
Export regulations were - and are - anything but straight-forward. One reason is that they reflect political pressures and interests. And these pressures and interests change with the wind.
The fog is beginning to clear. High-tech and other types of manufacturers are getting a better idea of what they must do in order to conform to new requirements for disclosing the presence in their products of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighboring states. Still, a number of questions remain unanswered.
The 2012 MAP-21 bill provides highway and transit funding through FY 2014. Janet Kavinoky of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce provides insight into how this law will impact logistics and discusses other transportation issues before Congress.
Bribery scandals have dominated headlines in several countries in recent months, among them India and Nigeria. International enforcement of anti-bribery laws has been increasing in the United States and major European countries.
Employees at the Chinese factories of Apple supplier Foxconn continue to work beyond the country's legal limit of 49 hours a week, according to a report from the Fair Labor Association (FLA). But the Taiwanese manufacturer is making overall steady progress in improving the working conditions at a select group of factories in China, it said.