Join USFIA at MAGIC in February!

We’ll be heading back to SOURCING at MAGIC in Las Vegas from February 11-14, presenting a not-to-be-missed session on Monday, February 12, How to Navigate the Impact of Washington on Sourcing. This session, which is free for everyone with a show badge, will feature USFIA Board Member Anna Walker, Senior Director of Global Policy & Advocacy at Levi Strauss & Co., and former Commerce Department official Joshua Teitelbaum of Akin Gump. Let us know if we will see you in Las Vegas! Click here for details.

AWI Podcast Highlights Supply Chain Traceability

Australian Wool Innovation’s (AWI) most recent podcast, The Yarn, highlights the 2017 delegation to the United States, where Peta Slack-Smith, AWI’s General Manager of Corporate Affairs & Market Access interviewed USFIA President Julia Hughes and other brands and industry stakeholders about supply chain traceability and sustainability. Click here to download the podcast in the iTunes store.

POLB Board Approves Rail Facility Project

This week, the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners approved the Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility, greenlighting a project within the Harbor District that will move cargo faster, with fewer environmental impacts. Click here to read more.

In the News

In January, we participated in just-style’s annual “What Lies Ahead for the Apparel Industry” series, in which USFIA President Julia Hughes provided her insights on challenges and opportunities, strategies for sourcing success, and more. Click here to read the series on the just-style website.

In Case You Missed It…

December 13: USFIA and PwC hosted a webinar on China’s economic evolution and the impact on the future of sourcing.

January 17: USFIA and U.S. Customs & Border Protection hosted a webinar on how to enhance protection of your intellectual property rights.

January 18: USFIA and the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) hosted a webinar on strengthening minerals due diligence, featuring a Signet Jewelers case study on how responsible sourcing efforts are transforming jewelry industry from mine to retail.

January 25: USFIA and Integration Point hosted a webinar on how FTZs offer savings in your supply chain.

Calendar of Events

February 1 (San Francisco, CA): There are still seats available at USFIA Fashion Forward at Levi Strauss & Co.! Join us for our full-day West Coast event focusing on customs and social compliance.

February 2 (San Francisco, CA): The USFIA Social Compliance & Sustainability Committee will meet from 9am-noon at Levi Strauss & Co. All members are invited to participate. RSVP to Samantha at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for details.

February 6 (Online): USFIA and Premier Partner PwC will host a webinar on tax reform.

February 7 (Online): USFIA and Akin Gump will host a webinar on NAFTA.

February 20-21 (Online): USFIA’s Sustainability Partner BSI will host their Annual Supply Chain Intelligence Review Webinar.

March 8 (Washington, D.C.): The USFIA Board of Directors will meet at Barnes & Thornburg LLP. RSVP to Samantha at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

June 26-28 (Brussels): The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) will host the Global Cotton Conference.

July 11-12 (Washington, D.C.): Save the Date! USFIA will host our annual Washington Trade Symposium and lobby day.

21 & 22 November 2017
8 Cross Street, PWC Building, Level 17

Any professional involved in the cross-border buying or selling of goods is touched by trade compliance considerations. Whether employed in supply chain operations, planning, procurement, or finance, the failure to understand and plan around import/export regulatory requirements can lead to unanticipated costs and a lot of wasted time. Product delays, stock-outs, emergency shipments, additional warehousing costs, and customs penalties are all common consequences of compliance failures.

Many businesses operating in Asia Pacific choose to have their logistics service provider (“LSP”) handle customs formalities at overseas borders; relying on their operational knowledge and relationships with customs officials. However, LSPs often lack technical training and the legal responsibility for customs compliance remains with the owner of the goods. Most customs authorities expect informed oversight over LSPs and customs brokers.

To equip Singapore based business professionals with the ability to take a more informed and pro-active role in the management of customs and trade risk in Asia Pacific, PwC will cover the following topics during this two-day workshop:

• Recognisingand monitoring customs and trade “hot spots” throughout thesupply chain
• Introduction to customs valuation, classification, and FTA compliance
• Understanding the trade compliance roles and responsibilities of the various businessfunctions, LSP, and customs authorities
• Essentials of customs rules and procedures in Asia Pacific
• Identifying opportunities for duty savings and cash-flow improvement across theregion
• Return on investment on trade compliance

Details: http://www.pwccustoms.com/en/events/customs-trade-compliance.html

The 30^th edition of Colombiatex de las Américas is getting ready to take over the runways of Plaza Mayor in Medellin, Colombia from January 23-25, 2018.         

With the support and guidance of ProColombia, USFIA Sourcing Supporter for 2018, Colombiatex is a global stage to connect the supply side and demand side of the textile and garment sector, with lots of time for networking among entrepreneurs, buyers, and fashion fanatics. More than 550 Colombian and international exhibitors, as well as 15,800 buyers, plan to attend the event, considered the primary textile and full-package platform for top vendors across the supply chain in Latin America, including yarn, fabric, home textiles, and full-package apparel. In addition to showcasing the region’s speed to market and duty-free opportunities, the show will highlight vendors’ tech innovations and social responsibility initiatives.

“Colombia is considered a one-stop-shop where you can find all the main supply chain suppliers of the American region, but where you can also connect with finished product vendors in all categories from more than 40 countries, including guest country Brazil. It’s the hub to extend your production and distribution opportunities in the backyard of the United States with an attractive solution for sourcing with the best lead-time in the Americas,” says Sylvia Reyes, Director of Ready to Wear Department at Procolombia USA.

REGISTER: https://www.misioncompradoresprocolombia.co/colombiatex2018/index.php?p=preregistro&cbc=n&te=comp   

For more information, contact Sylvia Reyes at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 212-922-9114 ext 66202.

The United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) has signed an MOU with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) to exchange membership and provide information about the group’s sustainability measurement suite of tools, the Higg Index, to our members to help them drive environmental and social responsibility throughout their supply chain. 

With this MOU, we join more than 200 global brands, retailers, and manufacturers, as well as government, non-profit environmental organizations, and academic institutions, including many current USFIA members, which are collectively committed to improving supply chain sustainability in the apparel, footwear, and textile industries.

SAC members contribute both data and resources to support the Higg Index, which measures sustainability performance and drives supply chain transparency and decision-making to improve efficiency and sustainability impact. The Higg Index is an open sourced, indicator-based suite of tools that enables suppliers, manufacturers, brands, and retailers to evaluate materials, products, facilities, and processes based on environmental performance, social labor practices, and product design choices. We’ll be working with SAC to provide information and updates about the tools through the USFIA Social Compliance & Sustainability Committee and activities like our webinars and conferences.

Companies or organizations that are not currently members of the SAC and are interested in accessing the Higg suite of tools, may inquire at apparelcoalition.org/join-us/.

Canopy: First Modern Straw Pulp Mill in North America Now Under Construction

For the past 15 years, environmental not-for-profit Canopy has been advocating to make commercial agricultural residue paper a reality. As of September 27^th, Columbia Pulp, the first modern mill of its kind, which is slated to make pulp for paper and packaging out of wheat straw, is now officially under construction in Washington State.

By securing the support of large consumer corporations and creating focused demand, Canopy has helped position straw papers and packaging as a strong alternative to products made with virgin tree fiber. Through Canopy’s Second Harvest initiative, corporations such as Staples, EarthColor and over one hundred fashion brands have expressed clear interest in buying agricultural residue paper, packaging and/or textiles as they become available. Canopy’s market survey of 180 companies representing combined sales of more $100 billion USD has identified 1.4 million tons of unmet demand for a range of printing and writing grade papers alone, which is equivalent to the production capacity of 10 pulp mills the size of Columbia. When built, these mills could help revitalize rural areas of the wheat belt and bolster the green economy.

“Making paper out of agricultural residues such as straw waste is a smart way to alleviate pressure on forest ecosystems and provide sustainable business solutions,” said Nicole Rycroft, Canopy’s Founder and Executive Director. “We congratulate Columbia on this incredible first, and are excited to see the investment community mobilizing around this new green resource sector that services the growing paper and packaging market.”

For over a century, the paper industry in North America has logged forests to make paper – with widespread negative environmental impacts. Columbia Pulp will be using clean technology to produce pulp that will use significantly less water, energy and chemicals than traditional kraft-wood pulping processes. The result will be 140,000 tons per year of quality, price-competitive pulp for paper and packaging that will alleviate sourcing pressures on ancient and endangered forests. In addition, Columbia Pulp will use wheat straw residues purchased from local farmers to manufacture pulp for paper, providing a value-added stream to the region. After the grain harvest, once soil and animal needs have been met, the straw residues that remain are often burned in the fields.

“Making a competitive commodity product that is better for the environment and good for farmers is simply good business,” said John Begley, CEO of Columbia Pulp. “Columbia Pulp is proud to be on the vanguard of green innovation in the North American paper sector that I’ve worked in for over 40 years.”

For more information, visit www.columbiapulp.net.

Lenzing: Eco-Responsible Viscose Launches at Premiere Vision Paris

Society's environmental awareness has been growing steadily over the last decade, especially in the fashion and textile industry. Consumers today expect responsible retailers and brands to know their supply chains and to be able to trace product origins. To meet these increasing consumer demands, the industry is anxiously looking for more sustainable and transparent supply chain solutions. With Lenzing™ EcoVero™ fibers, Lenzing launches unique environmentally friendly and traceable viscose fibers. A special manufacturing system enables Lenzing to identify Lenzing™ EcoVero™ fibers in the final product, long after the textile processing and conversion steps have been completed. This ability to easily verify the original fibers means that retailers and brands can be sure that they are indeed incorporating Lenzing's eco-responsible viscose fibers, and not just any generic viscose that might not be in line with their sustainability goals. With this special identification technology for Lenzing™ EcoVero™ fibers, Lenzing provides an one-of-its-kind solution for the fashion industry and its supply chain to respond to consumer demands for reliable visibility of product origins that can be traced back to the fiber.

What makes Lenzing™ EcoVero™ fibers so eco-responsible? Lenzing enforces strict environmental standards during viscose production and has invested millions over the years to achieve eco-resposible production processes. Lenzing's viscose production sites where Lenzing™ EcoVero™ fibers are made comply with the stringent guidelines of the EU Ecolabel, a world-leading environmental manufacturing standard. Lenzing is also very transparent regarding raw material sourcing practices. Lenzing™ EcoVero™ fibers are made from wood. The wood comes from sustainable forestry plantations that are independently certified by industry-leading associations. Lenzing has a comprehensive wood sourcing policy that goes above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that the most sustainable wood sources are used for viscose production. Lenzing™ EcoVeroTM fibers set a new industry standard in sustainable viscose based on the use of these sustainable wood sources (FSC® or PEFC® certified) and an ecological production process with significantly lower emissions and water impacts than conventional viscose.

Read more at http://www.lenzing-fibers.com/en/news/press-releases/detail/article/2017/09/20/the-fashion-industry-requires-more-transparency-the-answer-is-lenzingTM-ecoveroTM-the-new-sta/.