Singapore’s tech agency conducts world’s first paperless cross-border trade

Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has partnered with

to Thailand.

The trade involved the use of an electronic transferable record (ETR) that

is functionally equivalent to a paper Bill of Lading (eBL), using Singapore’s

TradeTrust framework.

IMDA reportedly developed TradeTrust to address the challenges of

paper-based cross-border trades, leveraging international standards and

frameworks and utilising blockchain powered technology to enable digitalisation

of transferable documents into ETR.

The Singaporean agency added that its TradeTrust framework harmonises the

legal recognition of digital documentations between various jurisdictions which

has adopted the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)

Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR2).

The world’s first ETR cross-border trade involved ExxonMobil Asia Pacific

Pte. Ltd. as the shipper, Bunkerchain as the TradeTrust-enabled digital platform

provider, and VLK as the vessel owner who is supported by their Protection &

Indemnity (P&I) Club.

Bunkerchain provided a digital solution that supported the key logistics

documentation processes for the cross-border liquid chemical trade which

involved multiple parties such as a surveyor and custom broker.

The use of TradeTrust has enabled the digitalisation of the issuance,

ownership title transfer, and surrender of the ETR as an electronic Bill of

Lading (eBL) between the different stakeholders across different systems, that

is compliant to the UNCITRAL MLETR requirements.

This live cross-border trade reflects a greater modern digitisation shift

across industries worldwide.

In October 2022, the UK government presented the Electronic Trade Documents

Bill to promote digital trade across supply chains and cut carbon emissions. The

new legislation is expected to boost UK’s international trade and reduce costs

for paper trade documents.

More recently, Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) signed a five-way

non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote paperless trade. The

objective of the MoU is to boost efficiency and reduce the environmental impact

throughout the shipping process.