Uzbekistan Cotton: Protect Your Brand

Jan 5, 2014 10:05 AM ET

In the pit of Central Asia one of the largest exporters of cotton Uzbekistan, is responsible for grave Human Rights abuses and the enforcement of child labor. During cotton season the country recruits over a million civilians to work in the fields without compensation. Schools are shut down and children along with working professionals are faced with torture and arrest if they refuse to pick cotton under the fatal working conditions.

Protect your Brand from Bribery and Corruption:  U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), enacted in 1977, is a compulsory law that generally prohibits the payment of bribes to foreign officials to assist in obtaining or retaining business. The FCPA can apply to prohibited conduct anywhere in the world and extends to publicly traded companies and their officers, directors, employees, stockholders, and agents. Agents can include third party agents, consultants, distributors, joint-venture partners, and others. http://www.sec.gov/spotlight/fcpa.shtml)

Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT)

The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) is a voluntary supply chain security program led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to improve the security of private companies' supply chains with respect to terrorism. Companies who desire C-TPAT certification are asked to conduct a risk assessment of their international supply chain(s) and must document their process for determining and alleviating risks throughout the supply chains. Certification allows companies to be considered low risk, resulting in expedited processing of their cargo, including fewer Customs examinations.

A Monumental Task

It is understood by U.S. Customs and Border Protection that some C-TPAT members may have numerous supply chains which may present a monumental task when conducting a comprehensive security risk assessment of their international supply chains. Partners are charged with mapping cargo flow and identifying all parties involved and their prospective roles throughout the international supply chain: Procurement, Production, Packing, Staging/Storing, Loading/Unloading, and Document Preparation of cargo destined for the United States.

Source Intelligence Platform – Tailored to Protect Brand, People, & Planet

Source Intelligence is uniquely suited assist companies in their C-TPAT efforts. Our expertise in supply chain tracing, data verification, due diligence, documentation and reporting have been proven in challenges including conflict minerals, carbon footprinting, supply chain efficiency, and hazardous materials management. Our technology, expertise and people are poised to take on a substantial workload, off-loading your staff.

Source Intelligence: Helping companies handle C-TPAT

Similar to our services tailored to address Dodd-Frank Conflict Minerals regulations and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Source Intelligence platform is optimized for the administration and documentation of company C-TPAT efforts. Source Intelligence provides supply chain communications and surveys, explicit supplier policy education, and data collection. Due diligence efforts include data verification, documentation, and self-certification letters. Company education and training videos can also be provided. And it’s all backed by Source Force™, our 24/7 phone and online service to handle concerns and issues on an around-the-clock basis.

Information is Power

Source Intelligence® offers a powerful cloud-based solution for supply chain analysis and risk assessment. Our Software as a Service (SaaS) supports effective data collection techniques and solutions, giving our customers the power to measure and analyze supply chain data for optimizing compliance, regulated materials management and sustainability efforts. More than data collection, the Source Intelligence team and online service provide actionable information, analytics and detailed knowledge so you can make wise decisions about business partners and suppliers.

 

The Source Intelligence online service is flexible and provides customized views for each customer. Source Intelligence leverages industry-leading technology and agile development methodologies to produce a robust, scalable and flexible portfolio of solutions that can be tailored to suit customer needs. Source Intelligence helps you manage your supply chain and sustainability efforts to offer products that meet legal and ethical standards.