Reacting to public outrage, Western retailers and apparel brands began a major push to improve safety at the Bangladeshi factories they do business with. It involves a sprint to inspect hundreds of plants each month and a commitment to help correct any safety problems found — all with an eye to preventing another catastrophic collapse or fire. But instead of joining forces, the Western brands have divided into two sometimes feuding camps.

CEVA Logistics has opened a foreign trade zone within a warehouse in Miami.

Netwin Solutions Inc., a provider of applications for supply-chain security and global trade management, has launched a software module to help companies comply with new rules for reporting on the presence of conflict minerals in their products.

The Food and Drug Administration has the responsibility for implementing FSMA and has issued seven proposed rules on each of the critical elements. These include Hazard Analysis and Preventive Controls for both human and animal food; Produce Safety; Intentional Adulteration; Foreign Supplier Verification Programs; Accreditation of Third-party Auditors; and finally the Sanitary Food Transportation Act (SFTA).

The recent occurrence of faulty ignition switches in General Motors cars should serve as a wakeup call to companies that lack good visibility into their global supply chains. But most have failed to implement adequate supply-chain risk-management programs that could head off such problems.

Descartes Systems Group, a provider of information systems technology for logistics, has acquired Computer Management USA, a U.S.-based specialist in security filing and air-cargo management services for airlines and their partners.