September 23: A bankruptcy judge Friday expressed concern that Hanjin Shipping Co.’s efforts to cobble together a restructuring plan may be moving too quickly for U.S. creditors. The South Korean shipping company hopes to file a plan of reorganization with a Korean court by Dec. 23, court papers show, about four months after it sought protection there and in the U.S. ... Once Hanjin’s restructuring plan is on file, it will then be up to the South Korean court to decide whether to accept the plan or to let the company go under. ( Source: Wall Street Journal)
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September 22: In a small laboratory housed in a biotech incubator 90 minutes east of New York City are six bins tightly packed with sealed plastic bags of men’s dress shirts, sheets, and tufts of cotton ready to be spun into yarn. The materials are waiting to be DNA-tested with the same rigor you’d find in an FBI crime lab. But rather than seeking clues in a murder, the forensic scientists at biotech company Applied DNA Sciences are looking for a unique DNA stamp in the fibers to see whether the textiles are, in fact, made of the premium cotton their labels claim. (Source: Bloomberg Businessweek)
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September 22: Concerns related to the recent bankruptcy filing by Hanjin Shipping continue to put a wrench in supply chain planning and operations for all types of shippers. ... That was evident in a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker penned by 120 organizations comprised of manufacturers, farmers and agribusinesses, wholesalers, retailers, importers, exporters, distributors, and transportation and logistics providers. ( Source: Logistics Management)
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September 27: ... "Both candidates came out swinging to criticize U.S. trade policy. That’s a shame," said Stephen Lamar, EVP at the American Apparel and Footwear Association. "They need to understand that all Americans depend on trade – whether they are hardworking American families who are consumers of imports, or American workers in footwear firms who depend on global suppliers and global customers..." (Source: Footwear News)
See more in Women's Wear Daily.
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September 23: Negotiations over a far-reaching trade pact between the U.S. and the European Union will almost certainly not be finished during President Barack Obama’s presidency, European trade ministers concluded during a meeting Friday. The world’s two biggest economic blocs have been negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, since 2013, and have repeatedly said they hope to conclude negotiations before the end of the Obama administration in January. ( Source: Wall Street Journal)
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September 27: It was the year of the T’s in sourcing—first the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), then the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). And despite trade being a hotter topic than it has been in years, politics has put trade in an "uncomfortable place," American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) President Rick Helfenbein said in introducing a trade panel at Sourcing Summit 2016 in New York last week. ( Source: Sourcing Journal – login required)
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September 26: The U.S. Department of Commerce today released a comprehensive report that finds that intellectual property (IP)-intensive industries support at least 45 million U.S. jobs and contribute more than $6 trillion dollars to, or 38.2 percent of, U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). ( Source: U.S. Department of Commerce press release)
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September 20: Consumers expect high-quality innovative products from the brands they trust. They expect consistency and reliability, not just in the messaging, design and fit of a brand, but in its commitment to being the decent and honest "global citizen" espoused in its corporate messaging. ... Three key areas to building and maintaining this sacrosanct trust in your brand are: accountability, speed and innovation in product development, and supply chain visibility. ( Source: Sourcing Journal)
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September 20: Intellectual property laws instituted by Beijing’s central government in recent years — including the introduction of a dedicated IP court — offer the appearance of tackling China’s large and intransigent problem with IP infringement. Questions remain, however, about how these laws translate to ground-level enforcement. ( Source: Footwear News)
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In Brief
Special thank you to Target! AAFA’s Fall 2016 Executive Committee Meeting and Board of Directors Meeting took place today and yesterday at Target’s Minneapolis headquarters. A very special thank you to Kellie Davies Brown, one of AAFA’s newest board members, for helping to organize such a unique and engaging program.
Hanjin Shipping update: AAFA has been closely tracking the ever-changing circumstances following the Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy and its impact on members. As part of these ongoing efforts, AAFA will be joined by Ken O'Brien from Gemini Shippers Group for a fourth member-only call this Friday, September 30 at 3:00 PM ET. Members can click here to register (login required).
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) update: AAFA, other trade associations, and many individual companies, including a number of AAFA members, fanned out in the House of Representatives last week for a TPP fly-in. The group met with nearly 50 lawmakers urging them to vote Yes when the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement is considered by Congress later this year. Couldn’t join us? No problem. You can advocate for TPP’s passage right from your desk or smart phone by clicking on this link.
See all of AAFA’s latest letters, comments, and testimony here.
Congress and government agencies solicit comments on a range of issues that may affect your business – find a list of comment opportunities here.
It’s 2016 Employee Voter Registration Week! Encourage voter registration among your employees! Learn more and register here. Use hashtags #NationalVoterRegistrationDay and #EmployeesVote to show your support.
New social responsibility resource for AAFA members: AAFA and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) developed a Factory Audit Training/Checklist resource to help responsible sourcing/corporate social responsibility (CSR) teams to better engage with quality assurance, quality control, sourcing, and other company functions that are in factories on a regular basis. The AAFA/RILA tool provides a training template and a checklist for basic social compliance issues. Click here for more information (login required).
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 HPE GPAS (Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Global Product Authentication Service) is a unique cloud-based brand protection service providing comprehensive supply chain product serialization and analytical reporting from inception through consumer authentication and engagement. GPAS is designed to address many global challenges faced by today's global brands: Anti-counterfeiting, Grey Market Diversion, Product Authentication, Supply Chain Traceability and Security, Returns Center Management, Product Serialization, Track & Trace, and much more.
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October
Oct. 5 Webinar: Key Ingredients for a Seamless Omnichannel Customer Experience
Oct. 6 AAFA Footwear Workshop
Oct. 20 Webinar: Third-Party Risk Management - An Effective Program to Protect Your Brand
Oct. 27 Hong Kong Executive Summit 2016
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Visit our events calendar for all webinars and industry events. Be sure to save the date for AAFA's Executive Summit: March 1-3, 2017.
Other Industry Events
October 6-7, 2016 | Ft. Lauderdale, FL
AAFA's Rick Helfenbein will speak at the 2016 Apparel Executive Forum, October 6-7 in Ft. Lauderdale, covering what the upcoming elections will mean for the apparel, footwear, and fashion industry.
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Supply Chain
