Global Knowledge®

Amber Road’s 2012 user conference will be held October 14-16 in historic Georgetown, at the Fairmont Washington, D.C.

eVOLVE 2012 will be a great opportunity for Amber Road customers to exchange best practices with other users, provide feedback on product evolution, discover new products and initiatives, and hear about the latest developments in GTM from industry leaders such as William McNeill with the Gartner Group.

eVOLVE 2012 is an invite only event exclusive to Amber Road customers, partners and invited speakers. Register before June 30 to receive a 15% discount off the regular conference fee with our Early Bird Registration special.

Click here to register and to learn more about the eVOLVE 2012 conference.  We hope to see you in October!

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According to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), ING Bank N.V. has agreed to forfeit $619 million to the Justice Department and the New York County District Attorney’s Office for illegally moving billions of dollars through the US financial system on behalf of Cuban and Iranian sanctioned entities. ING Bank is held responsible for conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA), as well as violating New York state laws by illegally moving over $2 billion dollars through the US financial systems via more than 20,000 transactions between the early 1990s and 2007. This fine is the largest ever against a bank in connection with an investigation into US sanctions violations.

ING Bank executed this scheme through tactics including:

• eliminating payment data that would have revealed the involvement of sanctioned countries and entities
• advising sanctioned clients on how to conceal their involvement in U.S. dollar transactions
• threatening to punish certain employees if they failed to take specified steps to remove references to sanctioned entities in payment messages

Most upsetting is that these illegal activities occurred with the knowledge and encouragement of members of both the legal and compliance departments.

The bank has also entered a parallel settlement agreement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). As part of the agreement, ING will be required to conduct a full review of its policies and procedures to ensure that its compliance program is functioning effectively.

To read the entire Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) press release, click here.

For information on Amber Road’s Restricted Party Screening solution, which enables companies to automate the screening process, click here.

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With the May 14^th presidential proclamation putting the US-Colombia free trade agreement into force, it has never been more critical for GTM software users to understand the importance of the trade content that powers their solutions. Because FTAs specify changes in rules of origin and HS codes, it is important that organizations using global trade management software ensure that their vendor made the appropriate updates to the underlying trade content and put them in place immediately.

By having access to these trade content updates, organizations are able to find potential reductions in landed costs due to preferential treatment as of the effective date. Supply chain managers should be able to run scenarios that reflect preferential rates as they make sourcing decisions.

To learn more, click here to read the Supply Chain Digest article written by Anthony Hardenburgh, Vice President of Global Trade Content at Amber Road.

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Join Amber Road and American Shipper on Wednesday, June 20 at 2pm EDT for a webinar that will discuss findings from the second annual Import Operations & Compliance Benchmark Study, published by American Shipper and BPE Global. Key topics will include:

• Regulatory compliance policies and practices
• Import operations management and outsourcing
• Supporting technologies solutions and functionality
• Organizational structures and policies
• Training and education

Panelists for The Secrets to Import Success: Best Practices in Managing Import Operations & Compliance include:

• Nathan Pieri, SVP, Marketing and Product Development, Amber Road
• Andrea Appell, Director, BPE Global

Click here to register.

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Amber Road, a leading provider of Global Trade Management (GTM) solutions, announced today that seven of the top ten companies listed in the Gartner 2012 Supply Chain Top 25 use its solutions. This is an increase from 2011, when six of the top ten were Amber Road customers.

This is the eighth year that Gartner has compiled the list of supply chain innovators. According to the research firm, “Every year, Gartner identifies the companies that push the envelope of supply chain innovation.” They noted in the report that “many of this year’s Supply Chain Top 25 companies were impacted by natural disasters, such as the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and the massive flooding in Thailand…Overall, leaders have remained focused throughout the past year on building resiliency into their global supply chains, and we see it continuing to be a highly valued supply chain characteristic.”

For more information on how the survey and research was conducted, visit The Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2012.  Click here to read the full press release.

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On Thursday, May 17th, the United States announced that it will impose anti-dumping tariffs of more than 31% on solar panels from China. This decision, likely to ratchet up the trade tensions between the US and China, is the result of the US Department of Commerce finding several Chinese solar panel companies guilty of dumping their goods (selling them at below fair-market value).

The United States bought $3.1 billion worth of Chinese solar cells in 2011, which comes to more than half the American market for these devices. The anti-dumping duties are intended to level the playing field for US solar panel makers who may be undermined by Chinese competition, but may not necessarily be high enough to drive the Chinese makers out of the business altogether.  Regardless, this imposition is said to be one of the strongest by the Obama administration in addressing complaints of unfair Chinese trade and economic practices.

This change also comes with opposition from many solar panel installers in the United States who have opposed anti-dumping duties. They believe the inexpensive imports have helped spur many homeowners and businesses to put solar panels on their rooftops.  However, this change is likely to mean a substantial increase in the price of solar panels going forward. High duties are likely to raise costs, slowing demand for the polysilicon that is used to make solar panels.

As per the Department of Commerce, merchandise covered by this investigation is currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff System of the United States (HTSUS) under subheadings 8501.61.0000, 8507.20.80, 8541.40.6020, 8541.40.6030, and 8501.31.8000.

The Commerce Department said a final determination on tariffs would be made in early October.

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On May 14, 2012, President Obama signed the presidential proclamation that put the United States-Colombia free trade agreement into force. Designed to promote the flow of certain goods and services between the countries, the free trade agreement was years in the making.

According to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), the tariff reductions in the Agreement will expand exports of US goods alone by more than $1.1 billion, supporting thousands of additional American jobs. The International Trade Commission also projected that the Agreement will increase US GDP by $2.5 billion. The Agreement will remove significant barriers to US goods from entering Colombia’s market, as over 80 percent of US exports of consumer and industrial products to Colombia will become duty free immediately, with remaining tariffs phased out over the next 10 years.

Because the agreement specifies changes in rules of origin and HS codes, Amber Road was anticipating the formalization with the necessary updates to its extensive body of trade content, known as Global Knowledge^®. Amber Road’s trade specialists constantly monitor government information feeds from around the world to ensure that the Global Knowledge^® database is kept current as trade regulations change.

In fact, the US-Colombia FTA is affecting 20,681 HS codes and 858 rules of origin. Amber Road’s customers will see these changes within 24 hours of the effective date of the agreement. No other vendor in the industry provides that level of service when it comes to trade content.

You can read the full press release here. To learn how Amber Road can help your company realize the benefits of an FTA program, check out our Trade Agreement Management brochure.

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A new white paper released today by Amber Road found that mid-market companies are increasingly at risk for violating U.S. export regulations. This is especially concerning because U.S. export volumes are on the rise. According to a recent U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report, U.S. exports grew 7.7% from January 2011 to January 2012.

Amber Road surveyed 150 mid-market companies about their export compliance processes. They found that 23% do not screen for restricted parties prior to engaging with trading partners and customers, and only 41% have a comprehensive export compliance program in place. Not surprisingly, survey respondents pointed to a lack of executive sponsorship as a primary reason for their companies’ trade compliance deficiencies.

To learn more, read the full press release, or download a copy of the white paper.

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• Amber Road's very own Anthony Hardenburgh is featured in Inbound Logistics, discussing recent changes to the Incoterms: http://t.co/VTj92C6s #

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• Trade Compliance: British Businessman Extradited to the U.S. to Face Export Violation Charges http://t.co/AdHJGPi2 #

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