Fumigation in International Trade

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Fumigation is a method of killing pests, termites or any other harmful living organisms to prevent the transfer of the infestations and to check for the spread of unwanted pests from one country to another.  Think of it as a serious disinfectant process.  In the article below, I discuss why it is necessary, where it is done and how to fumigate, if needed, on the exporting front.

Why Fumigate in Today's Export Market?

Let's Celebrate: May Is World Trade Month!

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As the International Trade Administration (ITA) says through its International Trade Update, published monthly by the Office of Public Affairs of the U.S. Department of Commerce:

For years, May has been the time to not only recognize the benefits of international trade, but also for organizations around the country to support more American companies competing overseas.

For the United States, the benefits of trade have been great, as have our successes. We recently announced that for the fourth straight year, the United States set a record for annual exports in 2013, at $2.3 trillion. That is a 40 percent growth in total exports since 2009.

We salute all entrepreneurs and small businesses who have mastered the art and science of taking their business global!  Go celebrate your successes!  Be proud of your accomplishments!

Read the entire ITA newsletter here.

Related article:  World Trade Month the World Over

What Is the Future of Online Shopping?

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UK-based Retail Gazette interviews James Roper, Chairman and Founder of IMRG.  Here's what he has to say about cross-border options available to retailers.  One of the questions he addresses is: What is the future of online shopping?

Read the entire interview:  Cross-border trade Q&A, James Roper, Chairman and Founder of IMRG

Some resources mentioned in the article that are worth a look:

• Postcode Anywhere (UK-based)
• Alibaba (China-based; name misspelled in the article)
• Rakuten (Japan-based)
• Zalando - (UK-based)
• Argos (UK-based)

Whaddya Know: Even Small Companies Are Going Global

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Well whaddya know:

Even small companies are going global today, making education about supply-chain disruptions more important than ever.

Is it really foreign territory for small businesses to talk about global supply chain management risk?

Find out:  As More Companies Go Global, Supply Chain Risks and Solutions Grow

5 Steps to Maximize Your Global Strategy

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Are you NOT inspired to go global?  Read this (PDF file):

GO SMART
Before You Global Global

Where to Be Happiest

©2013 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest.  The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits.  People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.” - Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

How to Enact Change Globally

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Wendy Kopp (@wendykopp), after founding and building Teach For America for more than two decades, is leading the development of Teach For All (@TeachforAll) to increase and accelerate the impact of the Teach for America model worldwide.  She pens a mighty piece for the Stanford Social Innovation Review on the theory of change and how to go about it.

I started grappling with the question of how to enact change globally when I began meeting social entrepreneurs who were determined to adapt the Teach For America model to their home countries. The first such adaptation was Teach First, launched in the United Kingdom in 2003 and modeled after Teach For America. Participants teach in primary and secondary schools in low-income communities across England and Wales for a minimum of two years and become lifelong leaders for change working from inside and outside of education.  Four years after launching Teach First, in response to requests for support from social entrepreneurs in countries around the world, CEO Brett Wigdortz and I decided to launch Teach For All.

Read more:  Empowering Movements for Global Education Reform

And while you are at it, pay a visit to the Highlights from the Global System Change Conference (April 2014)