Regulation & Compliance

EPA Raises Renewable Fuel Requirements

December 1, 2016

The EPA has raised the amount of renewable fuel that must be blended into the nation's gasoline supply, drawing an immediate attack from the oil industry. The final Renewable Fuel Standards, announced last week, raise the levels from 18.11 billion gallons this year to 19.28 billion gallons in 2017.

UPS Catches Up With FedEx on Dimensional Weight Change

November 30, 2016

MultiChannel Merchant

Two months after a similar move by FedEx, UPS has announced changes to its dimensional weight pricing schedule. FedEx plans to decrease its DIM divisor from 166 to 139 as of Jan. 2, effectively increasing the shipping costs on millions of e-commerce parcels. UPS is also lowering its divisor to 139 as of Jan. 8, but is exempting domestic air and ground parcels that are less than one cubic foot (1,728 cubic inches).

'Blood Gold' Found in U.S. Cars and Smartphones

November 28, 2016

Industryweek

Deep in the jungles of Colombia, thousands of small, illegal mining operations, many under the control of Marxist guerrillas or drug traffickers, are working long hours to pull gold out of the ground. Miners are digging in out-of-the-way places such as Timbiquí and Río Quito. From there, the gold is hauled by boat, truck or small airplanes to smelters in Cali and Medellin.

U.S. Extends ZTE Reprieve on Exports Curbs Until Feb. 27

November 23, 2016

The New York Times

Chinese telecoms equipment group ZTE Corp said it has won a further reprieve to Feb. 27 on export restrictions that were imposed on the company by the U.S. government. In March, the U.S. Commerce Department hit ZTE with some of the toughest-ever U.S. export restrictions for allegedly breaking sanctions against Iran but has since issued temporary reprieves on the curbs.

U.N. Says Action on Climate Change Is 'Unstoppable' Despite Trump Win

November 22, 2016

Maritime Executive

Global efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions will continue after the election of climate change skeptic Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency, and momentum is growing to cut ship pollution, the United Nations' shipping agency chief says.

Tire Industry Works Toward Global RFID Tagging Standards

November 22, 2016

RFID Journal

A tire-industry working group led by Chinese rubber manufacturing equipment company Mesnac is striving to standardize the way in which the industry uses radio frequency identification tags. This includes how those tags are attached in tires, as well as how they are tested and encoded with data.

European Parliament Clears Drone Regulations for Takeoff

November 17, 2016

Computerworld

Regulations to protect people from falling drones moved a little closer to takeoff at the European Parliament. Ensuring drone safety took on a new urgency last week, with GoPro's recall of its Karma drone after unexplained mid-air power failures caused a number of them to drop out of the sky.

Organics Raising the Steaks for Food Manufacturing

November 15, 2016

Dave Gustovich, Area VP, NetSuite's Manufacturing Center of Excellence

Consumer appetites for organic foods are at an all-time high. As grocery shoppers buy more goods labeled as organic, pesticide-free, non-GMO and other attributes of healthier foods, food manufacturers need to adapt to the complex challenges of the organic products supply chain.

Post-Election, Can Trade Stop Being a Dirty Word?

November 14, 2016

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

In the political heat of this year's presidential election, the term "global trade" rarely carried positive connotations.

Pollution Accord Is Set for Global Flights, But Tasks Remain

November 9, 2016

The New York Times

The great and the good of world aviation gathered in Montreal last month to do something that seemed impossible even a couple of years ago. They agreed to cap greenhouse gas emissions from international flights. The pact - the first climate change agreement to apply worldwide to a specific sector, one that produces the equivalent annual carbon dioxide output as that of Germany - was greeted with almost universal support.