Highlights from 3p Traceability Week: Expert Panelists Answer Your Questions

How do we know if a product is safe for our families and aligns with our values? Was it produced in an environmentally preferable way that also benefited the person who made it, or are environmental and human rights problems lurking within its supply chain? It's all about traceability!

Last week, Triple Pundit gathered a panel of experts to get to the bottom of some of the toughest traceability issues in four controversial arenas -- seafood, fashion, minerals and medical marijuana. They were here all week to answer your questions, and it turned out to be a pretty interesting conversation.

Here are some highlights from the expert Q&A.

Minerals traceability

Tristan Mecham, director of product development for Source Intelligence, was on-hand all week to answer your questions about minerals traceability.

mkouraba: I've read criticism that most of the initial conflict mineral reports lack sufficient detail and, arguably, cannot be trusted. This is problematic, of course, because a report that erroneously certifies a company’s products as “conflict free” gives cover to the company and potential investors. Is this type of criticism overblown or, in your view, a serious concern?

Tristan Mecham: The quality and accuracy of the information provided in company filing varies greatly. In this first year there were very few companies that declared their products as conflict free, instead mainly choosing to declare as “conflict undeterminable.” However, remember that this is the first year that anybody had created such a report, and the first year that many companies had even heard of conflict minerals. As experience with these issues and the information required for them increases so too will the quality of the reports. Any company that chooses to erroneously declare itself as conflict free does risk being singled out by organizations such as the Enough! Project.

David Rabanus: Would small-scale mined gold, with its inherent pollution by mercury and cyanide, be eligible to be called "conflictive"? Personally I guess so, hence this challenge to incentivize the search for solutions. I think that policy-making must be part of it, and the UN Mercury Ban Treaty is a first step. But there is an urgent need for sustainable technologies, implementable at small scale. I'd like to hear your opinion.

Tristan Mecham: Hi David, Though I agree with your hopes to improve the environmental practices of small-scale mining, and by the looks of it you have been involved with it for some time, this piece of legislation does not account for the use of mercury or cyanide.

mkouraba: Just came across this WSJ piece re the Commerce Dept's claim that conflict minerals are too hard to track. Wonder how this will impact the future of reporting...

Tristan Mecham: As somebody that has been involved with tracing supply chains for years I'll be the first to admit that it isn't easy, and both the Commerce Department and WSJ bring up great points. The work of bringing this level of transparency to supply chains is still relatively new, and a work in progress.

At Source Intelligence we do our best to gather all the information we can about not just the locations of smelters but also the location of reserves of metals. We compare where hundreds or thousands of suppliers have stated the smelters are sourcing from. This allows us to create a robust, risk based, approach to conflict minerals. For example a smelter located in Peru, where there are large reserves of tin, that reportedly sources locally is a much lower risk than an Indonesian tantalum smelter that says they get their ore from India.

As our, and other companies like us, database on this grow the ability to provide more accurate and fine-grained information will also increase.

Medical marijuana traceability

The MJ Freeway team was on-hand all week to answer your questions about medical marijuana traceability. Based in Denver, Colorado, where both medical and recreational marijuana sales are legal, MJ Freeway provides software solutions that help producers, processors, infused product manufacturers and retailers track the product throughout the supply chain — from field to cash register.

Marissa Rosen: Could you envision a day when all 50 states will legalize marijuana? Is that even realistic? If so, by what year do you think it could happen?

MJ Freeway: Just a few years ago, many couldn't foresee this industry moving as far forward as it has, so it's difficult to time stamp anything. Legalizing some form of medical marijuana in each state seems like a reasonable reality, as more states adopt regulations and further cases of success come from families affected by epilepsy, cancer, etc. It becomes more challenging to guess the future of adult-use, recreational cannabis, as the federal government has not made any action to reschedule the drug. Many would argue that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol and therefore, should be taxed and regulated in a similar fashion. Thus far, Colorado and Washington have done a successful job of implementing a legal cannabis market and further states, potentially Oregon for example, can learn from any mishaps and improve.

Oklahoma Sam: Simple question - how do we make sure that legal weed isn't tacitly funding the cartels in Mexico and the associated death and destruction they bring?

MJ Freeway: We believe that regulation is the way forward to bring cannabis to the nation. Our goal is to make it easy for the people who are doing that to comply with their state regulations and to prevent diversion.

Andy: If the state's keep the requirement of having 2 million in your account to open a dispensary then only the cartel can do so. The average businessman cannot.

MJ Freeway: Minnesota began taking applications from entrepreneurs interested in opening medical cannabis manufacturing facilities this week, asking for a hefty $20,000 nonrefundable fee just to apply. It is a lot of money for folks, but "deep pockets, detailed business plans and a solid grounding in agriculture and finance" is what regulators are looking for. The application process is incredibly tedious and can be a challenging undertaking. We offer applicants assistance with their inventory control plan and outline, but yes, it's an expensive business venture! Here is the source for the info on MN.

Seafood traceability

Cheryl Dahle, founder of Future of Fish and CEO of Flip Labs, was on-hand all week to answer your questions about seafood traceability.

Triple Pundit: What are the biggest barriers you face in creating end-to-end traceability in the seafood industry?

Cheryl Dahle: Cultural issues top the list of barriers. That includes both general resistance to technology as well as the predictable internal resistance within any company to big change. Implementing new technology means re-designing processes, changing the way people's jobs work and the way companies do business. All of that takes time to accomplish and leadership to implement. These issues are particularly stark in an industry where there are few tech executives at mid-size and even some larger companies.

Other barriers include the costs of technology itself. The seafood industry is one with slim margins and an unclear future, due in part to overfishing. It can be difficult for companies to cash-fund, or get loans to put this technology in place. Couple that with scant proof of ROI, and you've got a lot of reasons to NOT invest in tech solutions. We examined some of the business case for these technologies in our traceability report here.

Nick Aster: Do you think there are other ways of funding this technology? ie, should this kind of thing be gov funded?

Cheryl Dahle: I think there could be government funding, particularly allocated to a project that would fund the development of the patches between all these software platforms, many of which serve just one level of the supply chain. Future of Fish is convening a group of entrepreneurs and industry leaders on this topic soon.

I think money could also come from foundations interested in marine conservation. The bottom line is that if we ask individual companies to bear the load of systemic barriers, we're not going anywhere fast.

Fashion traceability

Matthew Reynolds and Scott Leonard, co-founders of the fair trade fashion label Indigenous, were on-hand all week to answer your questions about fashion traceability.

Dave Shires: This might be too subjective a question, but how would you define "responsible" fashion? I can think of a lot of factors such as what kind of materials went into it, the labor involved and the durability of the product, not to mention some thought of it's use after it wears out. Curious to hear what things you would list out to define it?

Matt Reynolds: Hi Dave, You are spot on. Our definition of Responsible-Fashion is fashion that is produced mindfully without harming people or the planet. Our use of organic fiber and our industry-leading fair trade practices respect our world and help artisan communities to thrive. The precision quality of Indigenous knits and our timeless, self-expressive style create our worth. We passionately live our promise to be good to people and planet in everything we do. That is our definition of Responsible-Fashion.

Jen Boynton: Is traceability in the fashion industry a technical problem or simply an awareness one?

Matt Reynolds: Hi Jen - Consumer awareness is the key. When people get dressed in the morning, they often think about how others will think they look? But how many people think about how their choice of clothes makes them look in terms of who they are and what they value? Do you abhor child labor, human trafficking and unsafe working conditions? Do you care about the environment? So next time you go shopping, simply ask the questions "who made my clothes"? "Where do they come from"? These types of questions will spawn store owners and buyers to ask these questions from their brands.

Thanks to everyone for joining the conversation! Want to keep chatting about sustainability issues? Join Triple Pundit and Symentec tomorrow for a Twitter chat on bridging workforce and diversity gaps.

Follow along tomorrow, Sept. 18, at 10 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET at the hashtag #Diversity.

Image credit: FTCblog