Audience:
Open industry. All apparel and footwear industry professionals, regardless of AAFA membership, are encouraged to participate.
Description:
Proving the true origin of raw materials is one of the toughest challenges importers face today. Isotopic origin verification is emerging as a reliable method for evaluating origin claims independently of traditional supply chain mapping tools, as well as ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Recently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued guidance recognizing isotopic testing as a powerful tool for supply chain traceability and confirms the agency’s increased use of this technology to identify imports linked to forced labor.
This webinar by Oritain, in collaboration with AAFA, will explain what isotopic testing and origin fingerprinting is, why it’s a trusted method for origin verification, and what it can reveal that other tools cannot. Whether you want to better understand your supply chain, demonstrate due diligence, or prove the source of raw materials in your final products, this webinar is for you.
Attendees of this webinar will learn:
- What isotopic testing is and how it works.
- How the technology is used in supply chain traceability and due diligence.
- Steps to strengthen due diligence programs.
Speaker:
Dr. Kate Jones
Senior Science Advisor
Oritain
Dr. Kate Jones is the Senior Science Advisor for Oritain. Over the last ten years at Oritain, Kate has driven the development of the Oritain product and science delivery of cotton, wool, mohair, and cashmere verification programs.
Kate completed her undergraduate degree in environmental sciences and chemistry at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill before working as an Environmental Engineer for a construction and dewatering firm based in Singapore. Kate went on to obtain her PhD at the University of Otago in New Zealand, modelling the interaction of the marine environment and drivers on carbon dioxide fluxes along the coastal New Zealand shelf.
After a postdoctoral stint at the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Tasmania, Kate shifted back to New Zealand and joined Oritain in 2015.
Moderator:
Conor O’Brien
Sustainability Policy Coordinator
AAFA
Conor O'Brien joined AAFA's policy team in 2024 as its Sustainability Policy Coordinator after completing his Masters in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University. Prior to joining AAFA, Conor worked for several years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Boston, where he engaged with RCRA compliance, state coordination, climate adaptation planning, and environmental justice application. Initially trained as a chemist at Princeton University, Conor combines scientific research with policy analysis and application to provide holistic approaches to sustainable resource usage in pursuit of a more circular economy. Conor supports the work of the AAFA Environmental Committee and AAFA Product Safety Council by engaging with public and private stakeholders on issues of sustainability, product safety, and chemical management germane to the apparel and footwear industry.
Unable to join on April 3?
Register for the webinar to receive an email containing the direct link to access the recording of the webinar and a link to the PDF version of the presentation. The email will be sent 1-3 business days after the webinar.
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Stephanie Paendong