Blockchain technology: hype or helpful?
Blockchain technology (BT) is generally associated with cryptocurrencies, but it is rapidly being adopted in other sectors to streamline bureaucracy and foster transparency. In February 2019, the Italian industry ministry announced plans to set up, jointly with the computer giant IBM, a national scheme using BT to guarantee the traceability ...
World Footwear helps shoemakers to deal with Brexit
The Portuguese shoe industry association, Apiccaps, has posted a useful guide on the website of World Footwear with practical checklists for shoe exporters and importers on how to deal with the new trade agreement between the U.K. and the European Union. It also organized a few days ago an interesting ...
Myanmar violence raises sourcing concerns
Many sports and fashion brands that have shifted part of their sourcing for apparel and footwear to Myanmar because of its lower labor costs are watching with awe the consequences of the recent military coup in the country. According to observers, it may be difficult for some of them to ...
UK lawmakers call for garment industry watchdog to combat labor abuses
British lawmakers have called for the creation of a garment industry watchdog to stop labor abuses at suppliers to fashion industry retailers such as Boohoo, saying voluntary codes to tackle exploitation are not working.
Germany plans to protect human rights in global supply chains
On March 3, the German federal government approved a bill that aims to force local companies to respect human rights in their global supply chain. Parliament is expected to pass the draft legislation, commonly referred to as the Supply Chain Act, by the middle of the year.
Three German retail associations merge to have more clout
Three German retail associations BTE (representing apparel), BDSE (footwear) and BLE (leathergoods) have decided to merge this year to form the BTE Handelsverband Textil, Schuh, Lederwaren.
The U.K. to regulate the “buy now pay later” market
The British government announced that the increasingly popular interest-free ”buy now pay later” (BNPL) credit agreements will be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in order to protect consumers.
Italian shoemakers seek geographical indication protection from EU
The municipality of Monte Urano, led its mayor, Moira Canigola, is seeking to obtain geographical indication protection from the European Commission for the footwear cluster located in the Fermo-Macerata area in the Marche region.
EU Commission calls to ‘strongly discourage’ intra-EU travel
The European Commission has proposed the European Council to discourage non-essential travel between European Union member states amid high Covid-19 infection rates and concerns about new virus variants, while avoiding border closures or blanket prohibitions that would impede the functioning of the internal market and supply chains.
EU, China reach in principle an agreement on investments
After seven years of talks, the European Union and China have agreed in principle on an investment agreement after their leaders met on a conference call on Dec. 30. The parties had set the end of 2020 as the deadline to strike a deal.