On April 28th and April 29th, the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) headed to Columbus, Ohio, to meet with our members in the Midwest and host a seminar at L Brands with representatives from U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) and other industry experts.
On the first day of our Columbus tour, USFIA staff as well as Washington Counsel David Spooner of Squire Sanders and Customs Counsel John Pellegrini of McGuireWoods LLP visited two of our member companies for conversations on the issues of importance to those companies. We met with sourcing and compliance teams at Ascena Global Sourcing and MGF Sourcing, and discussed USFIA’s work on issues like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, key customs compliance issues, renewal of the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA), and more. (As you may know, we have a Membership Engagement Seminar Series, in which USFIA President Julie Hughes will come to your office to give a customized presentation to your team. This opportunity is available exclusively for our members, and we encourage you to take advantage of it! Click here for more information.)
USFIA meets with the team at Ascena Global Sourcing.
USFIA meets with the team at MGF Sourcing, including USFIA Board Member Jim Schwartz.
On the second day, the dark, rainy weather didn’t affect our fantastic full-day seminar at the L Brands campus. We had a packed house for discussions with CBP’s Acting Assistant Commissioner Rich DiNucci and representatives from the Center of Excellence & Expertise (CEE) for Apparel, Footwear, and Textiles from Chicago and Columbus. The attendees who are already part of the CEE got a chance to discuss how the CEE is working for them, and attendees who are not yet part of the CEE got the scoop on why they should join. DiNucci also told us that we can expect to see a draft of the new Informed Compliance Publication, so USFIA Customs Committee members should stay tuned.
CBP's Gary Geoffrion and Patrick Buchanan at USFIA's seminar at L Brands
In addition to the speakers from CBP, we also heard an excellent array of experts on the most critical topics right now. Ken Uriu, Marketing Manager for Trade Development for the Port of Long Beach, our lunch sponsor for the day, provided a fascinating look at what’s new at the port and the outlook for the coming months.
Amie Ahanchian, Managing Director in KPMG’s Trade & Customs Practice, our Premier Partner for 2014, reviewed KPMG’s recent First Sale and FTZ benchmarking study results and discussed best practices for the industry. (If you want to hear more about the benchmarking study, you can review KPMG’s recent webinar on the topic.)
Dynda Thomas, Partner at Squire Sanders in Cleveland and leader of the firm’s Conflict Minerals Practice, reviewed the latest updates on the SEC’s ruling, which change every day. We also released our one-page Conflict Minerals Guide for the Fashion Industry. We encourage you to review our May 1st webinar on the topic, and stay tuned to the Squire Sanders blog for the most up-to-date information.
USFIA and Squire Sanders released the Conflict Minerals Guide for the Fashion Industry
Finally, Elizabeth King, Vice President of Importer Relations for the Cotton Board, talked about how brands and retailers can have their voices heard on cotton issues. If you’re not already signed up for Cotton University, we encourage you to register today at www.cottonuniversity.com. And, if you’re interested in serving on the Cotton Board, please let us know! We will be nominating brands and retailers for slots at the caucus in June.
Our next major event will take place in New York, where we’ll talk about trade policy and sourcing. We hope to see you there!
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