OFFBEAT MAIL

The Journal of Commerce has set up a special website section to alert JOC members on how Hurricane Sandy impacts supply chain infrastructure. Complete coverage is available online at http://www.joc.com/speciapics/hurricane-sandy . Hurricane Sandy caused severe disruption supply chains following shutdowns of major ports and damage to key rail, road and air infrastructure. JOC editors are working around the clock to provide breaking news and updates of this week's devastating storm and its aftermath, see the JOC's Hurricane Sandy special topic page. ( http://www.joc.com/special-topics/hurricane-sandy ) Shippers should expect delays for air and ocean shipments to, from and within the U.S. in the wake of super-storm Sandy, which devastated parts of eastern U.S., including New York and New Jersey. Paul Tsui, chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics, said supply chain delays could drag out for a number of days. "Most carriers canceled th...

Demonstrating the ever-growing need for global public standards for the quality of medicines, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) announced the expansion of its Medicines Compendium (MC).  The USP MC is a free, online resource of quality standards for medicines approved in any country.  It was launched in July of 2011 with one Expert Committee based in South Asia (India).  The USP MC represents an innovative approach to make available good public testing standards for a marketed medicine and its ingredients. The USP MC provides monographs, general chapters, and allied reference materials for chemical and biologic medicines and their ingredients, including drug substances and excipients. The early success of the MC has lead to the creation of two new Expert Committees (in addition to a second EC convened in January of this year in East Asia) and to the expansion and enhancement of the MC website. "I have been gratified by advances of the Medicines Compendium du...

Over 90 percent of the world's rice is produced and consumed in the Asia-Pacific region where more than three billion people live. A population projection made for 2025 by FAO shows an average increase of 51 percent based on the year 1995; therefore, the amount of rice produced at 524 million tons annually to serve current consumers has to be increased to 700 million tons by 2025. The task of increasing the rice supply is facing difficulties due to climate change and the lack of new generation farmers. While the number of consumers in each mega city is growing, the number of producers is diminishing dramatically. Dr. Sujin Realizing the problems, Thailand's Rice Department, in cooperation with Naresuan University (NU), is trying to replace human labor by utilizing agricultural machinery to produce enough supply for national consumption and for export.  NU has conducted several research studies to increase yield and reduce the cost of rice production whereas the Ri...

For the first time, New York City was put to a standstill as superstorm Sandy continues to breeze through in some eastern parts of the United States. Many couldn't believe but most streets of New York City were found to be empty of people and vehicles, transforming it into a ghost metropolis, as most residents stayed in their homes for safety. At this developed, Wall Street already lost huge amount of stock market transactions as the New York Stock Exchange stopped its regular trading days. Alone, New York City incurred an estimated $20 billion in financial losses. Mostly affected was New York's Queens Borough district. Power has been shut off, too. In New Jersey, where the superstorm made its first landfall, the levee was already destroyed, thus forcing many affected residents to evacuate to safer grounds. Most parts of the metropolis have been inundated. Weather forecasts said superstorm Sandy has a packing wind of 105 mph and is heading towards Pennsylvannia. There a...

Increased restrictions on funding of stem cell research in the United States has forced many Americans to seek international medical treatment for their various ailments in developing countries. According to a website www.placidway.com : "The potential cost of stem cell therapies in the U.S. may be prohibitive expense, which encourages those hoping and seeking cures for illnesses, injuries and disease ;processes to travel to China, Thailand, Japan, Europe, and India, among others." The website said the cost of therapies is determined according to geographic location of treatment facilities as well as the injury, illness or disease being treated. "Because such treatments have not yet been approved in the U.S., medical travelers are cautioned to do their homework and study human stem cell therapy, treatments and protocols and examine the history as well as case studies in foreign destinations." To date, the U.S. has approved funding for Phase I clinical trials ...

MILF chair Murad Ebrahim (center). This is my reaction to Mr. Amando Doronila's column "Bangsamoro framework: The inside story", which appeared at the www.inquirer.net, on Oct. 29. One of the particular paragraphs that caught my attention focused on: “The MILF wanted to have full jurisdiction [over] the judicial system, including banks, budgeting, and creation of taxes and revenues, as well as full control over policing and internal security,” the paper said. The paper being referred to above is titled “Forging a Peace Settlement for the Bangsamoro: Compromises and Challenges,” a copy of which was obtained by the Inquirer. It was presented by professor Miriam Coronel Ferrer of the Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines, at the recent 2012 Philippines Update Conference at Australian National University in Canberra. Ferrer is a member of the Philippine negotiating panel in the talks with the MILF. I don't want to sound like a...

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis today reported 2.0 percent growth in real gross domestic product for the third quarter of 2012. U.S. economic growth is slow, but not slowing. It is difficult for the domestic economy to grow any more robustly, given the relatively soft pace of consumption and investment, weak sentiment among businesses, continued austerity for state and local government spending, weak exports, and the looming "fiscal cliff." Moreover, the negative headwinds from Europe and Asia look to be more persistent than previously thought. On the plus side, housing is finally turning into a positive factor after a long decline. Nevertheless, the U.S. remains poised to at least partially fall off the "fiscal cliff," as politicians are likely to let the payroll tax cut and extended unemployment benefits expire at the end of this year. This should depress economic growth to below 2 percent in the first half of 2013, the Bureau said.  Assuming the econ...