- Despite rapid digital transformation across industries, international trade still relies heavily on paper-based systems, slowing efficiency and resilience.
- OECD analysis shows that digitising trade processes could cut costs, strengthen supply chains, and potentially boost global exports by up to 37%.
- To achieve paperless trade, countries must advance on multiple fronts simultaneously—documents, processes, technology, data standards, and regulatory frameworks.
Global trade, unlike many sectors, remains rooted in paper-based processes despite clear advantages of digitalisation. A new OECD policy paper urges governments and industries to abandon outdated documentation systems and embrace digital solutions as enablers of more efficient, resilient, and sustainable trade.
Economic and Competitive Gains
The report quantifies significant potential benefits. A 10% improvement in automating border procedures and streamlining documentation could lift global goods exports by 18%. Moreover, reducing digital trade barriers—measured by a 0.1-point fall in the Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (DSTRI)—is associated with a 37% surge in exports. Such reforms would directly enhance competitiveness, cut costs, and expand market opportunities.
Resilience Through Digitalisation
Beyond trade flows, digitisation supports supply chain visibility and resilience, critical in light of Covid-19 disruptions and ongoing geopolitical tensions. With digitised data, businesses can track shipments in real time, better manage risks, and respond more quickly to shocks.
Enabling ESG Compliance
The OECD highlights that digitalisation also helps businesses meet fast-evolving environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. Many sustainability rules relate to border processes, yet often lack clarity on documentation or platforms. Digital tools can bridge this gap, allowing firms to demonstrate compliance with growing demands for supply chain transparency.
Building Blocks of Paperless Trade
According to the OECD, progress requires five interconnected steps:
- Digitisation of documents such as invoices and certificates of origin.
- Digitalisation of processes including pre-arrival clearance, risk management, and e-payments.
- Adoption of new technologies like APIs, AI, and blockchain for data sharing.
- Standardisation of data to ensure interoperability.
- Enabling regulatory frameworks covering e-signatures, e-transferable records, and legal recognition of digital certificates.
- Advancing on one without the others risks creating bottlenecks. For example, digital documents are of limited value without interoperable systems and supportive legal frameworks.
Policy Gaps and Challenges
While progress is evident—such as digital Single Windows and e-payment systems—important gaps remain. Adoption of electronic transferable records, domestic e-payment frameworks, and tools for co-operation among border agencies lags behind. Shared risk management systems, in particular, are underdeveloped.
The regulatory environment for cross-border data flows is also becoming more complex, threatening to slow digitalisation. Unclear integration of sustainability rules with trade procedures further complicates the landscape.
The Path Forward
The OECD recommends stronger domestic regulatory reforms, which it identifies as powerful engines for competitiveness. International co-operation is also vital to harmonise rules, reduce friction, and unlock the benefits of paperless trade. Platforms like the WTO’s Joint Statement Initiative on E-commerce, as well as regional trade and digital economy agreements, are already embedding provisions for customs automation, e-signatures, and cross-border data sharing—critical steps toward a truly paperless global trade ecosystem.
Did you subscribe to our Daily newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe!
Source: Baltic Exchange
