How to make trade single windows more efficient with blockchain

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Alejandra Radl, Integration and Trade Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank, Fellow, Digital Trade, World Economic Forum & Jesse Lin, Project Specialist, Digital Trade, World Economic Forum

---

International trade is of critical importance for economic and social development worldwide. A major cost of global trade is the regulatory requirement of submitting large volumes of information to governmental authorities in order to comply with import, export and transit-related documents and certificates.

Trade single windows are flagship initiatives that reduce these administrative processes, allowing trade partners to submit standardized information at a single entry point. However, pain points and challenges – including lack of interoperability among agencies, the persistence of outdated processes, and limited visibility and traceability of shipped goods – are preventing us unleashing single windows’ full potential.

With the rise of technologies, such as the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, new opportunities to improve efficiency, transparency and interoperability in the trade ecosystem are emerging.

In this context, the Integration and Trade Sector of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) partnered in 2018 to develop a unique initiative: the Global Trade Single Window with Blockchain project, as part of the Forum’s TradeTech Initiative.

We first agreed to work in the design of a policy framework to support governments across the world as they explored the potential value added of blockchain in single windows, while understanding the experimental nature surrounding this technology. The report, Windows of Opportunity: Facilitating Trade with Blockchain Technology, found that blockchain could help lower barriers to trade. And it will now assist governments in making informed decisions about how to utilize this technology, encouraging the development of pilot projects.

To drive the project and develop the framework, a team of trade, customs and technology specialists from the IDB and the C4IR – and its digital trade team – has worked both remotely and through live meetings in Washington, San Francisco and Buenos Aires. Leveraging each other’s networks, we also built an expert community of over 80 members globally across various industry sectors, government agencies, intergovernmental organizations, academic institutions and civil society.

While they have delivered significant gains over time, single windows have yet to be fully implemented in many countries due to these and other challenges we have identified:

– Limited interoperability. Single windows duplicate efforts, add delays and increase lack of end-to-end visibility, with the subsequent time and costs for companies to engage in trade.

– Persistence of paper and lack of automation. Create inefficiencies in making and reconciling databases and customs duty and fee payments.

– Limited traceability of goods in supply chains. Impede agencies’ ability to verify the origin of goods, trace goods in supply chains, and detect anomalies and fraudulent patterns.

– Concerns about data trustworthiness and security of commercial and financial data among companies, making them reluctant to use single windows.

Blockchain could be a particularly useful solution, along with further complementary technologies and policy measures, to address some of the highlighted pain points. It can help stakeholders interoperate by enabling them to access the same data at the same time; smart contracts built on a blockchain can automate stakeholders’ compliance with various contractual obligations; and data on a blockchain are a stream of reliable information on past transactions, as they are immutable once entered. At the same time, the report considers the limitation of blockchain technology, and the challenges of analyzing blockchain’s potential in single windows.

Several potential use cases were identified through the design process. Interoperability among two or more national single windows and among border agencies within a country drew most interest by the expert community.

We found that blockchain has the potential to lower trade time and costs by helping to:

· Increase interoperability: improve visibility to manage risks, recognize patterns, conduct pre-arrival processing, share data and improve user experience.

· Increase traceability: enable more complete data on shipments, supply chains and audit trails by bringing together single windows and/or private sector trade intermediaries on a common blockchain.

· Automate processes: automate payments and reconciliation to accelerate revenue collection.

· Increase the trustworthiness of data: make data immutable and provide single-window users with unique identities, enabling them to apportion relevant parts of their identities to third-party service providers.

To achieve these benefits, the report presents six key steps for incorporating blockchain into single windows:

1. Create a grand vision and make the business case, ensuring high-level political support.

2. Create a governance structure, including for data, design and implementation.

3. Build the technology architecture and integrate blockchain with existing systems.

4. Manage user identities and data, testing single, interoperable identity for single-window users.

5. Measure impact developing and track key performance indicators of single windows powered by blockchain and report on the progress and results.

6. Iterate the pilot, considering ways to improve and scale it.

We have found that blockchain has the potential to solve various pain points facing single windows, and bring new efficiencies and capabilities to border agencies. However, benefits will hinge on the rigour of its implementation.

This framework aims to pave the way for blockchain pilots around the world. The IDB will soon be working to implement proof of concepts with governments in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). One objective is to build LAC governments’ capacity to understand and apply new technologies on border clearance, and to share lessons learned.

The IDB and the World Economic Forum also look to work on further technologies in border clearance, and to reap the immense and still largely latent economic gains from facilitating world trade.