A new report issued on supply-chain sustainability
Companies realize social compliance and sustainability are critical to brand equity
Findings from a new study by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) and the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics reveals industries and individual companies are under growing pressure to define their commitment to sustainable supply chains, according to SupplyChainBrain. Yet the meaning of that term remains cloudy. A working definition should include efforts at both environmental protection and adherence to workers’ rights.
The report concluded pressure to achieve supply-chain sustainability comes from multiple sources, including customers, non-governmental organizations, the media, regulatory agencies and their own executives. Companies differed in their responses to those influences. Child labor, forced labor and other social concerns ranked high on the list as being of “critical importance.” Environmental efforts were secondary, considered as “nice to have.”
Companies realize social compliance and sustainability are critical to brand equity. CSCMP vice president Chris Adderton notes: “You don’t want to be the outlier that finds out too late that something is wrong in your system.” Alexis Bateman, director of MIT Sustainable Supply Chains, adds that the research can serve as a valuable guide to future efforts by companies looking to achieve true supply-chain sustainability.
EPA announces major reorganization of Chemical Safety Division
No jobs will be shed
The EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) is significantly reorganizing to respond to the department’s changing work, according to Bloomberg Industry.
The changes reshuffle the structure of OCSPP’s three main divisions: the Office of Pesticide Programs, the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, and the Office of Science Coordination and Policy, according to EPA officials.
No jobs will be shed and no pay grades will be changed.
The pollution team will reorganize to better fulfill the mandates and authority laid out in the 2016 Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act amendments to the Toxic Substances and Control Act. The team will include new, separate risk evaluation and risk management branch divisions for existing chemicals work, as well as a single new division for the risk assessment and risk management of new chemicals.
The antimicrobials division in the pesticides program also will reorganize to better respond to the demands of the coronavirus pandemic and future public health emergencies.
The pesticides team will absorb the science coordination team’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program to better support program functions and align with obligations under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, according to Dunn’s email.
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