Recent International Trade News from Various T.I. Vendor Blogs

From PIERS: The Effects of Supply Chain Interruption on Pharma Trade.  In proportion to the rapid diversification of suppliers of raw materials, quality-related issues have grown rapidly in recent years. In order to achieve consistent quality assurance from upstream to downstream throughout supply chain, it is essential to verify the quality management system of raw material suppliers through auditing and also to establish a quality assurance system for distributing released products to customers without jeopardizing product quality.

This phenomenon has already shown adverse effects in Canada, where quality isn’t the issue—simply obtaining the right drugs has caused supply gaps. Recent reports say the federal government is working with pharmaceutical companies to address shortfalls in the supply of some prescription drugs, including a request that they seek alternative sources of the medications outside Canada. Hospitals in several provinces are reporting looming supply gaps for dozens of medications used in operating rooms, emergency departments and intensive care units.

Supply gaps are being blamed on a number of factors including a diminished supply of raw materials—many of them from countries such as China and India—and a burgeoning global patient demand for medications.

From Panjiva: Increased Shipments Show Bunnies will be Back this Easter. Panjiva has good news for those opening Easter baskets this Sunday. According to an analysis of U.S. customs shipment data, there was a 22 percent increase in shipments of “bunnies” this January, the month Easter items are shipped in order to make it to the U.S. in time to be packed into baskets. Shipments of bunnies, which include chocolates, toys and decor, steadily declined from 2009 to 2011, likely a result of the economic downturn and recession. However, with the economy hopping back on track, it should be safe to say that the Easter Bunny’s coming to town!

From Zepol: Zepol Offers “HTS Code Widget”.  Zepol’s recent creation of the “HTS Code Widget” allows media partners and industry professionals to access up-to-date statistics on thousands of HTS Codes…directly from their websites!

From Import Genius: Introducing TradePulse: A Free Tool to Analyze Import Volumes for Any Product. “We’re proud to introduce our newest free tool for analyzing U.S. import data, TradePulse. Type a product keywords into this free public service to find out the number of shipments imported into the U.S.”

“We’ve collected more than 66 million shipping manifests since we started tracking U.S. ocean freight imports in 2006. We’re now opening much of this data to the public for free as part of our mission of opening up the lucrative world of international trade to more people. To try our new search tools, simply visit importgenius.com/pulse.

From Datamyne: No Winner in Chinese Solar Case. Commerce finds countervailable subsidies, but will tariff help US industry?