Swift’s Efforts to Drive Global Adoption of Electronic Bills of Lading

In collaboration with BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank, and four electronic Bills of Lading (eBL) platforms, we’ve successfully tested an interoperability solution capable of enabling the widespread use of electronic documents that are critical to digitize trade, reports Swift.

eBL

Digitizing global trade, specifically through the adoption of electronic Bills of Lading (eBL), promises substantial advantages such as cost reduction, enhanced transparency, and mitigation of fraud, addressing the $2.5 trillion trade finance gap. The current reliance on paper-based Bills of Lading results in inefficiencies, delays, and environmental concerns, making eBL an attractive alternative.

Despite the recognized importance of widespread eBL adoption, the industry lags, with only 2.1% of bills of lading and waybills in container trade being electronic in 2022, according to the FIT Alliance. Various industry initiatives aim to boost eBL adoption, including the FIT Alliance’s ‘Declaration of the electronic Bill of Lading,’ which has garnered support from around 80 institutions. Additionally, the UK Electronic Trade Documents Act (ETDA) passed in 2022 grants legal significance to electronic trade documents, fostering a conducive legal environment for eBL.

While these initiatives signal progress, a critical challenge hindering wholesale adoption is the lack of technical interoperability among existing eBL platforms. The nine eBL providers authorized by the International Group of Protection & Indemnity Clubs operate with distinct rules and customer bases, preventing users of one system from engaging in transactions handled by another. This lack of interoperability results in digital islands, requiring participants to connect to multiple systems, leading to inefficiency and increased costs.

Recognizing the need for interoperability, Swift, with its history of enabling global interoperability and recent initiatives like interlinking central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), is poised to address the eBL challenge. In collaboration with FIT Alliance partners and eBL platform providers, Swift is developing an API-based eBL interoperability model. This model allows firms to use a single connection to Swift, streamlining interactions with trade transactions across various eBL platforms.

The initial Proof of Concept (PoC) in 2023 involved collaboration with eBL platforms such as edoxOnline and CargoX, testing the use of a single ubiquitous API contract to establish a secure channel with Swift. Expanding the PoC to include TradeGo and WaveBL, along with the participation of BNY Mellon and Deutsche Bank, showcased the potential of the API layer to facilitate the end-to-end flow transfer process of an eBL in simulated trade transactions. This collaborative solution aims to overcome the challenges posed by digital islands and drive the seamless adoption of eBL in global trade.

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Source: Swift

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