In January 2019, Natural Resources Canada released a discussion paper that, while perhaps under the radar for many outside policy circles, signaled a potentially significant shift in how large firms—particularly those in energy-intensive sectors—will be expected to account for supply-chain emissions. The paper focused on Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, those indirect emissions that arise […]
The Social Value Act, first enacted in 2013, has long been praised—and sometimes quietly criticized—for its ambition to embed social benefit considerations into public procurement processes. For years, the legislation encouraged contracting authorities to look beyond price and technical merit, to consider how procurement decisions might contribute to broader community wellbeing. Yet, for all the […]
The European Union’s Medical Devices Regulation, published back in May 2017, introduced a host of transformative requirements aimed at reshaping medical device oversight, not least in the realm of supply chain traceability. The deadline for compliance may have felt distant at first. But by early 2019, manufacturers, suppliers, and regulators alike found themselves grappling with […]
When the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill was signed into law that December, it marked a turning point for hemp cultivation and its downstream industries, particularly for the burgeoning CBD sector. The removal of hemp from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act created both opportunity and uncertainty, especially as stakeholders sought clarity on supply chain […]
The passage of Canada’s Bill C-69 in June 2019 marked a profound change in how resource projects, notably pipelines and mines, would be evaluated and monitored from both environmental and social perspectives. The introduction of the Impact Assessment Act under this bill signaled a shift—not merely in procedural requirements, but in the expectations placed on […]
In the wake of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of December 2017, supply chains tied to American operations began to undergo, often in subtle and sometimes in abrupt ways, restructuring that few could have fully predicted at the time of the law’s passage. The most visible driver, of course, was the reduction […]
The 2018 revisions to the European Union’s Waste Framework Directive marked a notable evolution in how policymakers sought to embed circular economy principles into industrial practice. While the Directive had long been a cornerstone of European environmental regulation, the updated text sharpened the focus on product design—particularly the expectation that manufacturers, especially in electronics, would […]
As discussions around digital equity grew louder in the United States toward the end of 2018, anticipation mounted regarding the forthcoming Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act, or DATA Act. By March 2019, the legislation had formally entered into force, signaling a significant shift in how broadband coverage was to be reported and, just […]
When Canada’s draft Impact Assessment Act under Bill C-69 was released in June 2018, it marked, perhaps more than policymakers at first admitted, a shift in how offshore petroleum production and export projects would be expected to manage—and disclose—their supply chains. While most commentary at the time focused on the broader environmental review provisions, those […]
The launch of the U.K. Plastics Pact in April 2018 marked a significant, though arguably long overdue, shift in how packaging supply chains were expected to engage with circular economy goals. By November that year, the initial excitement surrounding the initiative had given way to the complex, often messy, work of translating its principles into […]
When NSPM-33 was signed in February 2018, it was framed as a decisive step in securing critical technologies, with domestic semiconductor manufacturing placed squarely at the heart of the national security conversation. For many in the industry, this presidential memorandum marked the culmination of years of quiet concern. But for others—particularly those more focused on […]
The launch of Canada’s digital ESTMA Registry in 2018 signaled a significant shift in how transparency obligations were expected to be met by firms in the extractive sector. For many companies, this transition to a digital-first reporting framework wasn’t just a matter of compliance—it reflected a broader trend toward making financial data more accessible, both […]
The 2018 guidance issued by the European Commission on the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) marked a subtle yet meaningful tightening of expectations around corporate disclosure, particularly in relation to supply-chain transparency. For many firms—especially large retailers operating across multiple jurisdictions—this wasn’t entirely unexpected. The signals had been there for some time. What stood out in […]
When the U.S. Trade and Development Agency launched its Open Data Initiative in 2017, the move was framed as part of a broader effort to promote transparency and encourage U.S. exporters to engage more effectively with emerging markets. For firms operating in cleantech sectors—those engaged in renewable energy, water management, grid modernization, and related technologies—the […]
Canada’s ban on microbeads in rinse-off cosmetics, formalized under Bill C-62 and effective from July 2018, marked a significant shift in how personal care product supply chains were expected to operate. While public focus at the time was largely on the consumer-facing impact—removing visible microplastics from scrubs, cleansers, and toothpaste—the practical implications for manufacturers and […]
The enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on May 25, 2018, introduced sweeping changes to how organizations manage personal data. For the supply-chain sector, and particularly for vendors of supply-chain software platforms, the impact was immediate and multifaceted. Where previous regulatory frameworks may have allowed greater flexibility in the handling of personal data […]