Oritain Tackles Traceability Compliance at Sourcing Journal Fall Summit 2024

New York’s Park Avenue was host to fashion industry experts from North America and abroad this November for the Sourcing Journal Fall Summit. This annual supply chain event is a key fixture in the apparel industry calendar.

The 2024 event was held on November 12th and celebrated 15 years of Sourcing Journal with a focus on the evolution of the sourcing and retail industries. More than a hundred leaders and professionals from brands, retailers, manufacturers, and service providers were in attendance.

Oritain’s involvement with the Fall Summit stretches back several years, and the company was a core sponsor of the 2024 event.

While Sourcing Journal’s anniversary inspired the event’s theme of ‘Past, Present, and Future’, the topics addressed throughout the agenda reflected current concerns for the cotton, fashion, and apparel industry, including technology, trade relations, politics and the environment.

 

Oritain spotlighted on site and in print

Oritain had a significant presence at the event in response to the increased focus on sustainable supply chains and importance of traceability within the sector.

Senior members of the team were on hand to provide expertise to attendees concerning the capabilities and benefits of forensic science and origin verification through Oritain’s commanding booth.

The fruits of Oritain’s partnership with Sourcing Journal were also on display, with copies of the new whitepaper ‘The True Cost of Detention’ available to visitors from the booth. Copies may also be downloaded online from Oritain’s library of resources.

 

 

Traceability under pressure: a panel discussion

Oritain also featured on a special panel discussion, designed to provide insights and expertise to challenge the status quo and inspire attendees to view their businesses differently.

The topic for the panel was ‘Traceability Under Pressure: Compliance Risks when Transforming Supply Chains’, which featured Oritain Vice President of Retail Sales, Ben Tomkins.

Panelists discussed the growing prevalence of transshipments and how the practice is impacting the fashion sector. They observed that cotton from prohibited regions is increasingly being transshipped through countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nicaragua, and Mexico to avoid detection.

Tomkins commented that, “A lot of brands and retailers think that simply relocating a lot of their sourcing out of a particular country is going to minimize the risk of prohibited materials being present within their products, but I think it lures them into a false sense of security because a significant portion of the inputs that are being provided are still coming from these particular prohibited origins.”

The challenge this presents was illustrated in the example relayed of a company that underwent a customs audit, where it was learned that one simple cotton shirt had 12 different vendors involved, each of which required full documentation to trace the movement of materials through the supply chain.

While it was acknowledged that some businesses may be involved in material violations unwittingly, ignorance isn’t a viable excuse, as Tomkins pointed out. “Regulators are keeping close track of this change in trend. That leads a lot of brands and retailers into quite a bit of exposure from a risk perspective.”

The panel also discussed the ramp-up in enforcement by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), pointing to the agency’s increased funding, higher investment in technology, and greater numbers of trained staff at the border. Tomkins noted that Central and South America in particular are becoming heavily targeted regions from an enforcement perspective.

While much of the regulatory focus concerned the UFLPA, panelists were keen to emphasize that this is far from the only piece of forced labor legislation fashion businesses should be cognizant of. They addressed similar regulations governing Canada, Mexico, Australia and the EU, and advised the audience to implement a global strategy that can be leveraged in all jurisdictions.

The panel agreed that a comprehensive approach was required to satisfactorily address growing regulatory requirements.

 

 

Oritain is well placed to support fashion businesses on their compliance journey by providing a robust, reliable solution, underpinned by forensic science, to prove the origin of their goods.

See a list of all coming events Oritain are appearing at and contact us about scheduling an in-person meeting on our Events page.

 

Photos: Katie Jones for SJ

 

For more information: 
Ben Tomkins – Vice President of Retail Sales 
btomkins@oritain.com