Regulation & Compliance

More Retailers Come Clean on Where Their Products Come From

May 10, 2013

Some retailers are doing what was once unthinkable, handing over information about exactly how, and where, their products were made.

Maritime Group Wants Your Input on How to Lessen Your Paperwork Workload

May 9, 2013

Maritime Executive

A six-month consultation period is under way in which the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will seek widespread input on the administrative burdens that may result from compliance with IMO instruments.

Panjiva Offers Chinese Trade Data on Searchable Platform

May 8, 2013

Panjiva

Panjiva, creator of a business-to-business platform for global trade, is now offering access to Chinese trade data.

Retailers Shouldn't Leave Bangladesh, But Help Make Apparel Factories Safer

May 8, 2013

Business Week

Bangladesh is a dangerous place to work in a factory as the Rana Plaza building collapse shows. Local health and safety regulations are so weak that last spring, even before the Rana Plaza disaster, executives at Disney decided they would no longer source toys and apparel from Bangladesh. The company felt the risk to its reputation wasn't worth the low cost of production.

We Consumers Are Responsible for Deaths of Apparel Workers in Bangladesh

May 8, 2013

Los Angeles Times

The deaths of more than 600 garment workers in Bangladesh's Rana Plaza factory collapse April 24 is a tragedy that highlights widespread problems in the global apparel industry. But will it be the spark that finally leads to much-needed global reforms?

'Green Tax' Index Measures How Nations Use Taxes to Influence Corporate Sustainability

May 7, 2013

CFO

Although the corporate tax director doesn't normally pow-wow each week with the head of sustainability, a new green-tax index just might encourage more talking between the two - and maybe with the CFO in on the conversation.

Could China Be Getting Serious About Quality, Safety of Food Produced There?

May 7, 2013

Business Week

And you thought Europeans had problems with their horse meat scandals. In China, consumers have to worry about getting served rat meat for dinner.

For the Food Industry, a Shopping List of Critical Issues

May 6, 2013

Robert J. Bowman, SupplyChainBrain

Ask any food industry executive to cite his or her greatest concern, and the answer will almost always be the same: product safety. But the list doesn't stop there. Like any other business sector, food manufacturers are grappling with a number of challenges, many of them related to the age of the internet and social media.

Deadline Coming for Accurate Declaration of Ocean Container Weights

May 2, 2013

BIFA

When the MSC Napoli ran aground off the UK's south coast in January 2007, 137 out of the 600 containers it was carrying on deck were at least 10 percent heavier or lighter than was declared on the ship's manifest. In another high-profile accident, the capsizing of the Xpress Container Line vessel Deneb during unloading at Algeciras in June 2011, an even higher percentage of boxes - 64 out of 150 - were not laden as recorded.

Despite Promises, Have OEMs Been Able to Compel Suppliers to Create Safe Working Conditions for Employees?

May 2, 2013

Boston Review

When Jia Jingchuan, a 27-year-old electronics worker in Suzhou, China, sought compensation for the chemical poisoning he suffered at work, he appealed neither to his employer nor to his government. Instead, he addressed the global brand that purchased the product he was working on. "We hope Apple will heed to its corporate social responsibility."