The European Commission announced that it is seeking input on ways to improve monitoring and enforcement of corporate governance.

From the strict controls and highly filtered content, including the famously obvious "Tianneman Square" Google search, to the blocking of hugely popular social networking sites, namely Facebook, China's online censorship has always been viewed as an unjust and uncompromising policy that is likely only to get stricter. However, the advent of social networking popularity and the exponential growth of online transactions (which are often international) has boosted the internet's business value to an unprecedented level, and sparked a discussion of whether China's censorship should be taken more seriously.

The recent earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown that rocked Japan have aversely affected just about every aspect of life and business on the powerful island nation. Unfortunately, the shipping industry was not the exception, and Japanese air and ocean transporters are facing a multitude of complications in the aftermath of the unprecedented disaster.

What: Free Webinar: Best Practices for Managing Free Trade Agreement Management Processes

When: Tuesday, April 19 at 2pm EST
Where: Online

Given the advantages of NAFTA and other free trade agreements, exporters and importers seek to widen the advantages of reduced duty impact by participating in trade agreements. After surveying import and export compliance managers from 200 firms, Customs & Trade Solutions Inc. and Management Dynamics have uncovered key trends in managing the complex Free Trade Management process.

The increased complexity of global supply chains has led to longer lead times, more pipeline inventory, and the need to control downstream and upstream logistics. In the Aberdeen Group's most recent supply chain visibility survey, the growing supply chain complexity was the top business pressure (44%). This, in turn, has contributed to increased supply chain management costs. It is not surprising that in the situation of global economic turmoil that visibility is taking center stage.

A recent survey by Deloitte found potential trade violations to be a deal breaker for the majority of companies surveyed.