At the beginning of 2019, e.l.f. Cosmetics incurred $1 million in fines after unknowingly selling beauty products made with illegal North Korean materials to US consumers. Although the cosmetics company wasn’t directly conducting business with North Korea, the origin of their product materials fell under the radar. Due to an inadequate or nonexistent system for auditing their materials’ country of origin, e.l.f. Cosmetics suffered the consequences on 156 shipments of eyelash products.

Imagine this: your company is being audited and as a part of the audit process you're asked to provide your standard operating procedures (SOP). Uh oh, you think, as you realize your manuals haven't been updated in years – a major compliance issue.

This unfortunately is a very common scenario for compliance managers and it's a time when many realize their written and documented SOPs are severely lacking or non-existent. In the midst of an audit is not the time you want to start thinking about your SOPs and manuals. 

As a world leader in distribution, manufacturing, and integration of electronic connectors and cable assemblies for the past 73 years, PEI-Genesis possesses a highly evolved system for large customized solutions. They are unparalleled in their ability to match the extensive, high-mix, low-volume, value-added capability. With the unique position of being the only value-add connector distributor positioned in North America, Europe, and Asia, PEI-Genesis faced quite a challenge to maintain their customer commitments with speed.

It’s been far from a dull year in China trade. In the early months of 2018, the 13th National People's Congress of China began reformation of many Chinese governmental agencies, with a large amount of emphasis placed on import and export. As trade war talks took center-stage, the dramatic regulatory changes in play became overshadowed.

The European Commission (EC) and the Austrian Presidency of the Council hosted the European Union 2018 Export Control Forum in Brussels. This year, the Export Control Forum focused on identifying new emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and smart ledger technology and discussing how legislation should change to allow authorities to impose controls when and where needed.

Any time a new free trade agreement is announced there are always questions that arise, especially when it comes to replacing a longstanding agreement like NAFTA. If you're attending the Massachusetts Export Expo tomorrow then you're in luck!

Join Amber Road's very own Suzanne Richer, director of our trade advisory practice, for US Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) & Trends for U.S. Free Trade Policy tomorrow at 11 a.m. in Room 4.

As one of the most turbulent years in global trade history comes to a close, companies of all sizes must prepare for the New Year… and new compliance challenges ahead! Governments are taking an aggressive stance with enforcing export compliance, imposing million-dollar fines and upholding ever-changing trade regulations. As global supply chains continue to expand in size and complexity, companies need to prepare for what is on the horizon.

Surveying over 170 mid-market companies, Amber Road’s 2018 Annual Mid-Market Survey and Report encompasses a wide variety of industries. Companies responded to a slew of questions pertaining to product classification, restricted party screening (RPS), and various other compliance related activities. To better understand how these same businesses managed their critical programs, the survey also explores how the adoption of technology plays a role in their unique compliance needs.

For universities and research institutions, the world of export compliance comes with high risk. Violating EAR, ITAR or OFAC regulations can incur heavy fines, and government agencies and lawsuits continue to increase enforcement for higher education compliance. In countless instances, staff and educators are unknowingly violating trade laws that break compliance and put their organizations at risk.

The spotlight this week is shining on a woman who has always soared to new heights and raised the bar for those who came after her. Laura Langton, the Export Control Manager & Research Compliance Specialist at Washington University of St. Louis, has a passion for everything she puts her mind to, especially when it comes to export compliance and deemed export issues. Her specialty is adopting a bird’s eye view of compliance, taking in every issue that could arise and developing contingency plans to keep the University on track while preventing any issues that may affect current or future research. This dedication is why we’ve decided Laura Langton is a great fit for our Compliance Professional Spotlight.

This week’s compliance professional spotlight is on fire! We’d like to announce Barbara Hawley as our next Captain of Compliance.  Barbara has a fiery passion for every aspect of supply chain management but has a sweet spot for managing and maintaining compliance. As the Compliance & Logistics Manager at PEI-Genesis, she has revolutionized her company’s compliance processes. She’s taken her fire and passion for compliance and automated PEI-Genesis’s processes with Amber Road’s Export On-Demand.