A landmark ICC United Kingdom report on interoperable data and supply chain transparency driving sustainable trade at scale.
Paper to digital is no longer a back office tidy up; it is a sustainability strategy for the world’s busiest trade corridors. This report sets out how trusted, interoperable data can cut waste, curb courier emissions, and hard wire transparency into supply chains, while making trade cheaper, faster, and simpler. The opportunity is to connect major finance and logistics hubs into “digital superhighways” so these gains scale across entire corridors rather than staying trapped in pilots.
The sustainability case is practical and measurable. When retailers and manufacturers switch to electronic instruments such as electronic bills of lading and digital originals, transactions that once took weeks can complete in hours, with the carbon footprint of printing, shipping, and storing paper largely removed. Matalan’s move to electronic collections cut handling times by up to 29 days, eliminated courier costs, and is expected to save more than half a million sheets of paper a year in its trade finance operations, showing how efficiency and ESG goals reinforce each other. Interoperability raises the ceiling further: container shipping’s first live exchange of an eBL between platforms shows that title can move in minutes, with an industry roadmap towards 100 per cent eBL adoption by 2030, reducing paper use and avoiding courier emissions at scale.
Innovation is the engine behind this shift. Legal and technical building blocks now exist to make digital trade both usable and reliable across borders. The Legal Entity Identifier and its verifiable counterpart bring automation to know your counterparty checks, cutting verification costs by up to 70 per cent and cycle times by up to 90 per cent. By replacing stamps, couriers, and manual reconciliation with cryptographic proofs, these tools create tamper evident records that support ESG reporting as well as compliance. AI is doing its share too, with high accuracy document classification and straight through checks that remove paper friction, speed investigations, and reduce errors, leading to less rework and less waste.
Transparency is the connective tissue that turns digital into sustainable. End to end traceability platforms are delivering full material provenance in critical minerals supply chains, aligning commercial operations with EU battery rules and lifecycle reporting. By making the chain of custody visible from mine to manufacturer, firms can tackle Scope 3 risks while meeting regulatory duties. Equally, public good registries, such as invoice and trade finance verification systems, are restoring trust after fraud shocks, onboarding dozens of banks, and verifying hundreds of billions of dollars in transactions, while improving MSME access to working capital. That combination of integrity and inclusion is fundamental to resilient, low carbon growth.
The case studies in these pages show that end to end digital workflows are already cutting costs and cycle times for SMEs, improving traceability, and easing compliance burdens. As digital originals and smart, verifiable data replace paper across customs, logistics, and trade finance, the system becomes more auditable and less carbon intensive by design. The task now is coordination at corridor level: connecting national initiatives, aligning identity and data standards, and prioritising interoperability so benefits compound across multi node routes like the Maritime Silk Route.
This report is an invitation to act. With the legal reforms, identity rails, and interoperability frameworks now in place, governments, banks, carriers, and cargo owners can accelerate from promising pilots to corridor wide deployment. Do that, and the prize is clear: radically simpler trade that is also cleaner, fairer, and more transparent. In short, innovation plus transparency equals sustainability at scale
Next-generation trade corridors
Building digital trade superhighways
ICC United Kingdom, iC4DTI and DTT
Executive summary
In this report, we outline a vision for digitalising global trade corridors at pace and scale, ensuring the trading system is fit for the 21st century.
Today’s trade corridors resemble an outdated road network: slow, fragmented, and unfit for the demands of modern global commerce. Twenty-first century trade requires digital trade corridors (superhighways) that enable cheaper, faster, simpler trade underpinned by technology, interoperable data, and connected digital infrastructure. This shift will unlock $10 trillion plus1 in efficiency gains and economic growth, enhance supply chain resilience, and foster more inclusive and sustainable trade. Achieving this ambition requires a clear vision for transforming the global network of trade corridors consistently, while prioritising resources at the same time.
The ICC Digitalising Global Trade: Roadmap to interoperability and trust at scale outlines the steps needed to create an open, interoperable digital trade environment. This report complements the roadmap with a practical vision for where to start and focus resources, supported by real-world case studies to illustrate how key trade processes function when digitalised.
In practical terms, modernising a national road network would not involve upgrading every road at once, which would be costly, inefficient, and time-consuming. Priority would be given to main trunk roads carrying the largest volumes of traffic. The same principle should inform trade corridor modernisation.
The two main arteries of international trade are the Maritime Silk Route and the Transatlantic Trade Route. Together, they carry over $4 trillion in global trade and facilitate the largest flows of trade finance. The first step is to connect the strategic trade finance and logistics hubs: China, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, the UAE, the UK and the US.
Each hub represents a global financial centre, major international port or transhipment point and benefits from advanced infrastructure (policy, legal, regulatory, digital) and a foundation of trust. Research and development resources, such as the UK-based Digital Trade Test Bed, and public and private sector investment should now be focused on connecting the hubs to meet the goals of the ICC roadmap. This will create a digital trade superhighway along the main artery of global trade and accelerate the transformation of the global trade corridor network, with other corridors connecting as they become digitalised.
Chris Southworth
Secretary General, ICC United Kingdom
NEXT STEPS
Prioritise key trade corridors for digitalisation
Focus initial investments on the main arteries carrying the highest volumes of trade— namely, the Maritime Silk Route and the Transatlantic Trade Route.
Use a phased approach rather than attempting to digitalise all corridors simultaneously, ensuring resources are efficiently allocated to maximise impact.
Policy implication: Governments and regulators should identify strategic hubs and main corridors as priority areas for digital infrastructure upgrades.
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Connect strategic trade logistics and finance hubs
Focus on connecting major logistics and financial hubs — China, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, the UAE, the UK and the US — through harmonised digital systems.
Enable smaller or regional corridors to integrate into the digital superhighway gradually.
Policy implication: Provide incentives for cross-border collaboration between ports, trade finance institutions, and customs authorities.
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Establish open, interoperable digital trade environments
Implement the ICC Digitalising Global Trade: roadmap to interoperability and trust at scale.
Develop common standards, protocols, and APIs that enable the seamless exchange of trade, logistics, and financial data across jurisdictions and platforms.
Encourage collaboration between public and private stakeholders to avoid fragmented digital solutions.
Policy implication: Promote international agreements or frameworks on data interoperability and digital trust in trade.
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Leverage advanced technology to simplify and accelerate trade processes
Encourage the adoption of technologies such as eCustoms, eShipping, ePayments, blockchain, and AI for predictive logistics and risk management.
Target simplification and automation of key trade processes to reduce time, costs, and human error.
Policy implication: Implement regulatory sandboxes to test and scale innovative digital trade solutions securely.
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Fill ‘last-mile’ gaps…
Identify cross-border interoperability gaps across the major trade finance and logistics hubs.
Strengthen cross-jurisdictional dialogue.
Prioritise foundational trade architecture to enable solutions to scale — data standardisation, systems interoperability, legal and regulatory alignment, interoperable digital identity infrastructure.
Policy implication: Establish ‘Task and Finish’ Groups to catalyse and accelerate tasks and foster cross-jurisdictional dialogue.
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Prioritise investment to accelerate the benefits of trade digitalisation
Allocate public and private sector investment to accelerate the interoperability of major trade finance and logistics hubs.
Learn from the past — invest in scalable, open, interoperable solutions.
Apply a simple test criteria to all investment — make trade cheaper, faster, simpler for SMEs: ensure all investment delivers an open, interoperable trade system.
Policy implication: Build impartial expertise into all procurement frameworks, focus investment on proven, scalable solutions that benefit everyone.
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Promote inclusive and knowledge sharing
Ensure digital trade infrastructure benefits all participants, including SMEs and emerging economies.
Design solutions that keep pace with the merging of physical and financial supply chains as trade digitalises.
Develop and publish case studies and reusable toolkits, playbooks and guides to promote best practice and accelerate learning.
Policy implication: Ensure working groups are inclusive and represent all trade stakeholders.
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Incentivise the phase-out of paper
Follow the lead of Bimco and the Digital Container Shipping Association and set targets to phase out acceptance of paper documents by 2030.
Align phase-out targets with other jurisdictions and peer institutions to promote consistency of adoption of electronic trade documents.
Regulatory bodies, insurance and financial institutions should add use of paper documents to risk registers.
Policy implication: Send a clear signal to the market that trade is digitalising, with clear timeframes for the non-acceptance of paper-based documents and processes.
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Who the report is for
There is a responsibility on every stakeholder to promote trade systems that are fit for purpose for the 21st century. However, there is a particular duty on the trade finance and logistics hubs across the major trade corridors to lead by example.
This report is specifically aimed at stakeholders in the following countries:
CHINA
INDIA
SINGAPORE
THE NETHERLANDS
UAE
UK
US
These are the major trade finance and logistics hubs across the Maritime Silk Route (Europe–Gulf–Asia) and transatlantic trade route (Europe–US). The report is also aimed at specific roles for which this is important for investment and resource prioritisation, which include:
Chief executive officers, chief financial officers, non-executive directors and boards
Investors
Treasurers, accountants, finance and legal teams
Compliance, procurement and supply chain management teams
Customs, carriers, ports
Policymakers, regulators, lawmakers Investors
International institutions
FACTSHEET
These facts illustrate some of the real-world benefits of digital superhighways as evidenced in the case studies referenced in this report. This evidence builds on the mounting number of case studies2 demonstrating the benefits of digitalised trade.
100% courier cost eliminated
Digital transfer of acceptance and Bill of Lading surrender
75% settlement time saved
Shipment-to-payment settlement
100% traceability
Cobalt shipments from mine to battery manufacturer
70% reduction in false positives
Compliance screening errors resolved automatically by AI-powered platform
70% verification cost saved
Automated cross-border document verification
80% processing time saved
Electronic customs declaration processing time
99% faster processing
Electronic bill of lading handling
95% accuracy
AI-driven document classification and extraction for trade compliance
200% increase in SME access to finance
Access to working capital enabled through real-time trade verification
100% interoperability for electronic bills of lading
Seamless exchange of electronic bills of lading across different platforms
2 See References section for sources
Introduction
The trade ecosystem
By ecosystem, we mean all actors and processes associated with trade transactions — including buyers, sellers and all relevant services (customs, insurance, finance, regulators, solution providers, legal, transport, logistics etc.).
Digitalisation in this context means standardising and automating all processes across the entire trade ecosystem — eContracts, eCustoms, ePayments, eSignatures and eTransactions — with the entire ecosystem underpinned by interoperable laws, data standards and cross-border digital identities.
A digital superhighway is where the entire ecosystem is fully digitalised, interoperable and automated end-to-end across a trade corridor. Where all processes are cheaper, faster and simpler.
Aspects of digital trade superhighways are in operation but no trade corridor is fully digital and interoperable across the whole trade ecosystem in today’s world. The priority now is to ensure the major trade finance and logistics hubs are connected to enable trade digitalisation to happen at pace and scale across the main arteries of global trade.
The arteries of global trade
The global trading system is a complex web of approximately 150 major maritime trade corridors supported by over 3,000 trade agreements between countries and regions.
Within this network, there is an East-West artery that connects the Americas, Asia, Europe and Gulf. Today, this artery is as relevant as it was 200 years ago in handling the bulk of global trade and trade finance encompassing the Maritime Silk Route (Europe–Gulf–Asia) and the transatlantic trade corridor (Europe–US).
Connecting trade finance and logistics hubs
Across the main artery of international trade sit seven trade finance and logistics hubs: China, India, Singapore, the Netherlands, UAE, UK and the US. These hubs are global finance, trade, transhipment, innovation, legal, technology and finance centres within the global trading ecosystem.
Aligning and connecting these seven major trade finance and logistic hubs is a step forward to accelerating the pace and scale of trade digitalisation worldwide. All hubs have most of the necessary legal, policy, regulatory and digital infrastructure in place and have the capability to help drive innovation and best practice for all other trade corridors.
Establishing an open, interoperable trade environment across these seven trade finance and logistics hubs is a logical starting point for modernising the global trade corridor network.
Three key challenges
1 Coordination and strategic thinking
The Maritime Silk Route is a shared global asset, developed by traders over millennia for the public good. No single country owns or controls the trade route and there is no obvious coordination or incentive mechanism to bring these countries together to digitalise this vital artery of trade. There is a complex web of bilateral and multilateral agreements but these do not focus on the multi-nodal arteries of trade, such as the Maritime Silk Route.
2 Interoperability and connectivity
Whilst there is momentum to digitalise trade infrastructure at a national, jurisdictional level and a growing number of bilateral digital trade agreements, there is not the same focus on cross-border interoperability and systems connectivity between jurisdictions across multi-node trade corridors.
3 Siloed dialogue
In the paper-based trade environment, physical (shipment) and financial supply chains are separate and disconnected. In the digital economy, both supply chains merge, facilitated by modern technology. Unlocking the economic benefits of trade digitalisation at pace and scale, requires a systems approach where all stakeholders are engaged and working together on scalable solutions.
Benefits of trade digitalisation
Trade digitalisation offers a multitude of proven benefits. The opportunity is to catalyse connectivity across the major trade finance and logistics hubs to scale these benefits to all companies across all jurisdictions in the shortest timeframe possible. Benefits include:
FINANCE
Improved cash control and management
Improved audit and reporting
Reduced risk
Access to short-term working capital
Security of payment
Speed of execution
Improved liquidity
Better access to finance
EFFICIENCY
Reduced administrative cost
Reduced waiting times, border checks and faster crossover the border processes
Eliminating courier-related delays and printing processes
Reduced delays and exposure to disruption
Reduced intermediary costs — insurance, brokerage, demurrage fees
Addressing bottlenecks
Smarter resource allocation
Increased security, enhanced trust and reliability
COMPLIANCE
Reduced fraud, regulatory risk
Reduced risk of loss, theft or forgery associated with paper documents
Speedier company authentication and verification times
Greater transparency and improved supply chain relationships
Reduced cost of meeting regulatory requirements
Real-time monitoring and decision-making
SUSTAINABILITY
Greater supply chain transparency
Improved consumer confidence and supply chain relationships
Standardised data sharing and integration opportunities
More accurate and cheaper supply chain reporting
Reduced ESG risk
Enhanced operational resilience, mitigating vulnerabilities to external disruption
Less waste and reduced use of paper
Finance benefits
Insights into 21st century trade
The following three articles illustrate the direction of travel for 21st century global commerce.
The future is fully automated trade and finance
PROFESSOR SARAH GREEN
Head of Digital Assets and Trade Finance, D2 Legal Technology
Atomic settlement looks set to revolutionise trade finance. The term refers to a form of settlement that is conditional upon both delivery and payment both occurring at the same time. Whilst delivery versus payment (or DvP) arrangements are hardly new, distributed ledger technology (DLT) systems allow for the DvP method to extend across multiple linked transactions; essentially by making the settlement of each transaction leg conditional upon the settlement of all the others i.e. the whole chain is automated. DLT also allows for instant settlement and, whilst this might not be regarded as an advantage in all contexts, its possibility expands the functionality of future payment systems. This can only be a good thing.
Atomic settlement on a blockchain is achieved through a combination of blockchain technology and smart contracts:
Blockchain technology: Blockchain provides a decentralised and immutable ledger where all transactions are recorded. This ensures that once a transaction is added to the blockchain, it cannot be altered or deleted, providing a secure and transparent record of all transactions. This, along with decentralisation, is the main reason why intermediaries are not needed. There is no need for a centralised administrator or record-keeper because everybody has access to the same information and control.
Decentralised consensus: Blockchain relies on a decentralised consensus mechanism, such as proof of work or proof of stake, to validate and confirm transactions. This ensures that all participants in the network agree on the validity of the transactions, further enhancing security and trust.
Smart contracts: Smart contracts are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement directly written into code. They automatically enforce the terms of the transaction, ensuring that both parties fulfil their obligations simultaneously. This simultaneous execution is the essence of atomic settlement, as it eliminates the need for intermediaries and reduces the risk of default.
Transaction finality: In atomic settlement, the transfer of assets and the corresponding payment occur simultaneously. This means that either both the asset and the payment are exchanged, or neither is. This all-or-nothing approach ensures that there is no risk of one party defaulting after the other has fulfilled their obligations under the transaction.
Transparency and auditability: All transactions on the blockchain are visible to all participants, creating a transparent and auditable record. This transparency is what has led to such ledgers as being “trustless” or, in other words, systems that can be trusted so that parties do not have to be.
This new means of settlement is a significant advancement for international trade for several reasons:
Efficiency: Atomic settlement ensures that transactions can be completed instantaneously, reducing the time lag between trade execution and settlement. This efficiency minimises the risk of default and enhances liquidity in the market. Instant settlement is not always desirable, particularly for FX trades, where it would lead to significantly increased liquidity requirements and potentially compromised Payment v Payment processes. It remains, however, highly advantageous as a facility in other contexts.
Security: By using blockchain technology, atomic settlement provides a secure and transparent method for completing transactions. This reduces the risk of fraud and error, as every transaction is recorded and immutable.
Cost reduction: Traditional settlement processes often involve multiple intermediaries, each adding their own fees. Atomic settlement streamlines the process, reducing the need for intermediaries and thus lowering transaction costs.
Global reach: Atomic settlement can facilitate cross-border transactions seamlessly, making it easier for businesses to engage in international trade without the complexities and delays associated with traditional methods.
Trust and transparency: The use of smart contracts in atomic settlement ensures that all parties adhere to the agreed terms, fostering trust and transparency in international trade.
Atomic settlement, therefore, has the potential to enhance the efficiency, security, and cost- effectiveness of trade finance, making it a valuable tool for businesses operating in the global market. As a process, it offers several advantages over traditional settlement methods that often involve multiple intermediaries, such as banks and clearing houses. Whilst, in the traditional context, these intermediaries are necessary to ensure that both parties fulfil their obligations, they also bring with them an increased risk of fraud and error. Essentially, the greater the number of parties involved in the transaction chain, the greater the risk of delays and increased costs. Additionally, traditional settlements can take several days to complete, which can tie up funds and create liquidity issues for businesses. The instantaneous nature of atomic settlement on the other hand means that funds are not tied up for extended periods, thereby improving liquidity for businesses. In short, atomic settlement constitutes a new generation of payment capability.
The electronic invoice as a negotiable instrument
NICK DAVIES
Director, International Centre for Digital Trade and Innovation
As Professor Green has set out in her article, a combination of digital technology (blockchain, smart contracts, digital assets) and forward thinking legislative change on electronic trade documents, digital assets and data means we now have the ingredients we need to make the whole process of contracting, domestically and internationally, cheaper, faster and simpler.
At the same time, governments globally are looking to enhance growth, promote financial inclusion, leverage new technologies such as AI and deliver more sustainable global supply chains. All of this hinges on digitalising international trade.
The digital contract
Although an invoice is not itself an element of a contract under English law, to give one example, it is the basis upon which contracts are instigated and is evidence of the intentions of the parties to supply and be paid for goods and services. An invoice provides a wealth of practical, known information: what is being bought and sold, who is buying and selling and what jurisdictions the buyer and seller are in. If properly leveraged, this information can reduce risk and cost as well as generate new sources of finance.
That contract of which the eInvoice is evidence can and indeed is now being executed digitally with the full sanction of the law. Data relevant to the contract is being captured in reliable systems which enable all parties with an interest in the contract (including banks, carriers and governments) effectively to be witnesses to the contract as it is instigated, as it progresses and as it is completed. Their 3rd party interests in the execution and outcomes of that contract can be assured and indeed with the right checks and balances those interests could be represented by AI-based agents.
Designed correctly, the electronic invoice becomes much more than an informal and multi- format start of a contract, but the instigation of an assured digital transaction in which all the conditions of the contract and obligations of the parties are coded in from the start.
In such circumstances the risks — credit, settlement, misrepresentation associated with traditional paper-based contracts are reduced and managed much more effectively up front. The eInvoice — a document with which all traders are familiar and which their existing ERP systems are set up to create forms conclusive evidence of a properly formed contract to which supplier and payer are committed and in which the means of managing valuable consideration on each side is assured. All trade thus can become cheaper, faster and simpler.
eInvoice marketplace: Improving access to SME finance
As far back as 2020, central banks, such as the Bank of England, were suggesting the creation of an “open finance hub” as a logical extension of the introduction of open banking and as a means of closing the trade finance gap in the SME sector in the UK which was then estimated by the Bank to be some £22 billion.
The Bank’s proposal was to create a hub to link direct digital evidence of a trading entity’s behaviour, cashflow and resilience with lenders whose decisions about financing would be better informed but without huge cost to or effort by either them or their customers.
Project Aperta is a welcome step forward as a pilot initiative that fosters greater dialogue between central banks, regulators and finance communities in Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, the UK. However, this initiative is a good example of a well-intended but silo’d dialogue that is not sufficiently connected to wider dialogue on the digitalisation of trade and trade finance. There is also no public commitment or plan to scale the outcomes of this initiative.
The likes of India and Singapore also have sophisticated invoice registry infrastructure to reduce fraud and tax evasion and promote financial inclusion. This infrastructure is missing in other trade finance hubs, like the UK.
The new UK legislative framework and technology that underpins it, are good examples of modern infrastructure but not yet fit for 21st century cross-border, interoperable trade. There is every reason why the likes of the UK should help take a lead and follow countries like India and Singapore in setting up a market for eInvoice liquidity, based on a national registry for standardised digital invoices wherein working capital can be made available and competed for in ways that are well understood by the UK’s world leading capital markets.
Making this happen
We don’t need to look far to see the solutions. Most of the capabilities needed for the creation of this market already exist and in many cases are being used in some areas of the international trade market such as India and Singapore. As governments are the facilitators of growth, there is a model within reach which would not only enable the likes of the UK and others to develop native SME industry but would provide interoperability with similar markets elsewhere so that benefits would soon be realisable in all the major markets. This can then be a model for an interoperable and global infrastructure with good cashflow management outcomes at both ends of international transactions. With support from governments and regulators to make this happen, there is every prospect of this generating significant benefits to all areas of global trade in a medium term timeframe.
Establishing a cross-border global Digital Identity Framework
Based on a roundtable on Digital Identities for Cross-Border Trade organised by ICC United Kingdom, International Centre for Digital Trade and Innovation (iC4DTI) and Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), June 2025
Digital business identity is increasingly recognised as a foundational element for transparency, security, efficiency, and trust across international trade and supply chains. It enables secure identification of parties involved in customs, payments, logistics, and trade finance, thus unlocking significant economic and operational benefits.
Rather than replacing existing national and regional digital identity systems, a practical way forward would be to interconnect them via interoperability bridges e.g. Legal Entity Identifier (LEI), national/ regional digital identities, Bank Identifier Code (BIC) and International Securities Identification Number (ISIN). International best practice schemes include the ASEAN Unique Business Identity Number (UBIN), India and Singapore’s alignment of digital identity schemes for trade. This approach avoids further fragmentation and leverages established public digital infrastructure such as national business registries, allowing global cross-referencing while respecting data sovereignty and privacy.
A key requirement is a neutral, decentralised, and interoperable identity layer governed collectively by governments and regulators, not controlled by commercial interests. Public-good frameworks like the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) and its verifiable extension (vLEI) or national company number serve as practical examples of trusted identity systems that, if connected, provide a scalable trust and security environment on which commercial solutions can add value.
Challenges include an overly complex identity landscape, the lack of agreement on common identity infrastructure and low adoption rate of Legal Entity Identifiers. Building cross-border consensus, prioritising digital identities for business, trialling interoperability bridges, incorporating public digital identity infrastructure into commercial solutions and publishing practical use cases are all helpful solutions.
Trusted, interoperable digital identity infrastructure is essential to the future of cross-border trade. Whilst there is growing momentum to reform laws and remove legal barriers to digitalise trade and harmonise trade data, progress on interoperable digital identity infrastructure is more limited and hampering the ability to scale economic benefits.
Case studies
The case studies set out in this report are not intended to be extensive but to build on existing evidence and help illustrate what a digital ‘superhighway’ will look like at scale using real-world examples of the use of technology across the trade ecosystem.
EXPLAINER
eCUSTOMS
eCustoms refers to customs and border procedures are digitalised and automated, replacing manual paperwork with cheaper, faster, simpler digital processes. This speeds up clearance, over the border processing times, reduces errors and fraud, and ensures better regulatory compliance. Real-time data exchange between customs, traders, and stakeholders makes cross-border trade more efficient, transparent, and secure, streamlining global supply chains.
CASE STUDY 1
AI technology cuts customs declaration processing time 80%
Casper Customs operates at the intersection of global trade and regulatory compliance, providing customs clearance services, processing 6,000 declarations per month for major brands such as Boots, No7 and large food importers. Prior to adopting Sedna’s automation solution, all documentation was managed manually via email, creating bottlenecks and compliance risks. Today, Sedna’s Customs Declaration Automation extracts data directly from commercial documents, generates declarations within customs software, and enables staff to perform quick due diligence before submitting with a single click. This case demonstrates the tangible benefits of adopting automated, interoperable customs tools, delivering faster, simpler, and more sustainable trade operations.
Enabling sustainability
By becoming fully paperless, Casper Customs has eliminated the need for physical documentation, reducing both waste and reliance on office-based processes. Employees can now work seamlessly from any location, allowing the company to operate with a minimal workforce and significantly improve efficiency. These changes have delivered a major sustainability impact across the business while also benefiting customers: pre-arrival customs processes are now completed well in advance through Sedna’s AI Workflows, leading to reduced border delays and faster clearance times.
Next steps…
As Sedna builds on its strong presence across the UK, Europe, and the US, the company is now expanding its offering to additional customs systems, with a particular focus on Asia and Australia. Beyond customs, Sedna is enabling deeper data sharing through its APIs and MCP technology, creating stronger connectivity with government platforms and complementary SaaS solutions. The company is also extending the use of its document parsing technology beyond customs applications, with early use cases already underway in Noon Reports, Bills of Lading, and Statements of Fact analysis.
“With the requirements around Brexit and food imports handling 4,000 different products per truck, manual processing was never going to be viable—it was time-consuming and prone to errors. We needed a solution that would eliminate this bottleneck.”
NIKKI SAYER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CASPER CUSTOMS
CASE STUDY 2
Digital transformation delivers 25% workforce productivity improvement
The Trade Transformation Challenge, held during the ICC Global Banking Commission Meeting in February 2025, showcased how digital innovation can transform trade operations in emerging markets. Among three finalists, China Systems won the competition for its solution enabling City Bank Bangladesh to become the first bank in the country to fully digitalize trade finance operations. Through its platform, City Impex, powered by Eximbills Enterprise (EE) and Customer Enterprise (CE), City Bank streamlined end-to-end trade finance processes, cutting costs, increasing efficiency and facilitating customer growth. This case demonstrates how reliable digital trade platforms can drive systemic transformation in developing economies.
Enabling sustainability
The move to digital trade finance has eliminated thousands of pages of paper-based documents. By offering a live, secure digital repository, City Bank improves transparency, compliance, and audit readiness while lowering environmental impact.
For customers, removing courier dispatches, printing, and manual processes directly reduces their carbon footprint and administrative burden. The initiative supports Bangladesh’s gradual alignment with global digital trade standards and ESG commitments. The City Bank was ranked the #1 sustainable bank in Bangladesh for 2024 by the Central Bank.
Next steps…
The digital transformation of the trade finance industry has been a long time coming but the City Bank digital journey has created a momentum which will pioneer the complete digital transformation of the trade finance industry in Bangladesh.
“In the past issuing an LC with all the paperwork, the branch authorisations and processing would typically take some days. Since, CITY IMPEX, we have had cases where from sitting at their PC a remote customer can have an LC issued with a digital copy in the hand of the beneficiary on the other side of the World within 45 minutes of initiation — transformative!”
FARUK AHMED, DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR, HEAD OF TRADE SERVICES DIVISION, CITY BANK BANGLADESH
EXPLAINER
eTRANSACTIONS
eTransactions refers to the secure digital exchange of goods between buyers and sellers. This includes technologies that facilitate electronic invoices, contracts, bills of lading and bills of exchange. eTransactions are processed seamlessly across jurisdictions, enabling trusted, end-to-end digital trade across digital trade corridors.
CASE STUDY 3
Electronic bills of lading cut processing times 75%
Matalan Retail Ltd successfully completed a fully digital, end-to-end documentary collection from India to the UK using an electronic bill of lading (eBL), working with WaveBL, and a electronic promissory note, working with Enigio, all facilitated by Lloyds. By replacing paper with secure digital instruments, the company significantly reduced transaction time, cost, complexity, and carbon impact. The transaction reduced touch points from 14 paper-based processes to nine, streamlining workflows while maintaining full traceability and security. This case demonstrates the tangible benefits of adopting interoperable digital trade tools, particularly for documentary collections, delivering faster, simpler, and more sustainable trade.
Enabling sustainability
By adopting digital documents, Matalan gains the ability to easily retrieve and analyse trade data for auditing and reporting purposes. All documents are fully traceable and securely stored, enhancing transparency and compliance. This shift also contributes to the company’s ESG objectives by significantly reducing paper consumption and eliminating the carbon footprint associated with couriering physical documents. Once fully digital, Matalan is expected to save over 500,000 sheets of paper annually within its trade finance operations.
Next steps…
As Matalan continues to scale up digital collections and open accounts, the company is streamlining business operations, reducing transaction time, complexity, carbon footprint impact, and cost for both itself and its suppliers. Current digital trade flows include India, China, and the UK, with plans to expand across the wider supplier base in Asia. A particular focus is on Bangladesh, a major source of Matalan’s imports, where MLETR adoption would significantly simplify document flows through the local banking system. Matalan is aiming for fully digital trade in line with the DCSA target of 2030.
“Once more trade routes open under MLETR ruling, the increase in benefits will be significant for Matalan, faster, simpler and secure trade with no delays or documents being lost. We are looking forward to scaling up our digital trade”
SU ASHWORTH, SENIOR TRADE FINANCE SPECIALIST
CASE STUDY 4
Electronic transactions cut transaction times from one week to one day
Global Tea, in collaboration with Lloyds Bank and Enigio, successfully executed a series of fully digital transactions using Enigio’s trace:original digital envelope solution. This platform enables the creation and management of secure digital original documents with all the useful properties of paper, but without its limitations.
In practice, Maersk issued an electronic seaway bill via trace:original, which was transferred to Global Tea in Kenya (the exporter). Global Tea placed all necessary trade documents, including original shipping documentation and collection schedules, into a documentary collection basis, as agents for their bankers. Lloyds then arranged for a digital promissory note to be issued by Global Tea UK (the importer), enabling the release of documents in accordance with the terms of the collection.
By eliminating paper and courier delays, the process significantly reduced transaction costs, increased speed, and enhanced visibility and oversight. This case demonstrates how digital documentation can deliver faster, cheaper, simpler, and more sustainable trade.
Enabling sustainability
By eliminating paper and courier shipments, Global Tea has drastically reduced its carbon footprint on its Kenyan trade flows, evidencing the environmental benefits of digital documentation.
Next steps…
Digital trade adoption is gaining momentum, with industry targets aiming for 100% of container and bulk carriers to use electronic bills of lading by 2030. Global Tea is leading the way, demonstrating that digital trade can enable more seamless and efficient supply chain operations. Currently, around 10% of their trade volumes are digitalised, and the company plans to work with its banking partners to expand digitalisation across additional flows in the coming months. For digital trade to become widespread, broader engagement from carriers, banks, and corporates will be essential, with platforms such as Enigio’s trace:original being used to issue electronic bills of lading.
“Before we switched to trace:original, it could take up to a week to manage the documents required to complete international shipments. Now we do it in just a few minutes once a week, allowing us to meet deadlines with ease and improve our service to suppliers and logistics partners.”
RHODRICK KALUMPHA, GROUP FINANCE CONTROLLER, GLOBAL TEA
EXPLAINER
eSHIPPING, FREIGHT AND PORTS
eShipping refers to shipment, freight and port documentary procedures being digitalised and automated with real-time data sharing. By replacing paper-based processes such as bills of lading, cargo manifests, and customs declarations with interoperable digital equivalents, stakeholders across the supply chain can coordinate more efficiently. This reduces delays at ports, lowers operational costs, and enhances visibility from departure to delivery, making global shipping faster, greener, and more resilient.
CASE STUDY 5
Electronic documents make trade 30% cheaper and 75% faster
On 9 April 2025, Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Beijing Two-Zone Office successfully executed the world’s first fully paperless, interoperable documents against payment (D/P) cross-border trade transaction. This landmark trade financing operation involved the export of canned food by COFCO Industrial Food from Xiamen Port (China) to Singapore Port, with Yit Hong Pte Ltd as importer and Pacific International Lines (PIL) as the shipping carrier. Key banks involved are the Bank of China (BOC) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) as remitting banks, with Singapore’s DBS Bank (DBS) and United Overseas Bank (UOB) serving as collecting banks, supporting the D/P transaction through the use of electronic Bills of Lading (eBLs).
The project aimed to tackle longstanding inefficiencies in paper-based trade by digitising and legally enabling the entire D/P transaction chain, including document circulation and payment. TradeTrust-enabled eBLs, which are compliant with the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records, were used, functioning equivalently to their paper version and enabling legal title endorsement.
The eBLs were seamlessly transferred across TradeTrust-ready platforms, supported by Astron’s crypto-less public blockchain, ensuring regulatory compliance with no business-on-chain data or cryptocurrency. The end-to-end international trade processes, covering contract signing, document circulation, and payment settlement, were digitalised, with fully online electronic document flows between carrier, exporter, importer, as well as collecting banks.
“We have developed an open, neutral, inclusive and globally interconnected trade digitalisation network. This project validates the potential of distributed technology in streamlining trade procedures, enhancing compliance and security, and reducing transaction costs in digitalising the entire trade chain.”
YANG ZETAO, CEO, AEOTRADE
Enabling sustainability
The solution supports transparent and environmentally sustainable supply chains by eliminating the need for paper and courier transport, significantly reducing the carbon footprint. It enables greater visibility across trade operations and aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals by promoting more efficient, responsible, and climate-conscious global trade practices.
Next steps…
This pioneering cross-border D/P transaction slashed settlement times by 75%, cut document handling costs by 30%, and reduced bill of lading processing from 10 days to just 8 minutes. It proves that legally compliant, interoperable trade is not only possible, it’s faster, cheaper, and more sustainable.
Moving forward, IMDA and the Beijing Two-Zone Office will explore broader end-to-end interoperable digital trade scenarios. These efforts will engage more countries, regions, industries, and business types, inviting participation from cargo owners, financial institutions, logistics providers, and other stakeholders to jointly advance the digital transformation of global trade and financial services, injecting new momentum into the sector.
CASE STUDY 6
Interoperable electronic bills of lading mark step change for trade
Despite years of available technology, adoption of electronic bills of lading (eBLs) remained slow due to platforms operating in silos, requiring all participants in a transaction to use the same provider. This fragmentation prevented scale, blocking an estimated USD 6.5 billion in annual cost savings and USD 40 billion3 in additional trade potential.
To address this, the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA), together with carriers, shippers and leading eBL providers, developed an interoperability framework built on three pillars: a Platform Interoperability (PINT) API enabling cross-platform transfers: a Multilateral Legal Framework providing standardised agreements: and a Control Tracking Registry ensuring secure visibility of eBL ownership.
In May 2025, HMM and its shipper Suzano completed the first live, standards-based interoperable eBL transaction, successfully sending an eBL between two different platforms in real time. This pilot demonstrated that digital title-data transfer between platforms is both technically and legally viable, laying the foundation for scalable adoption.
3 Digitizing trade documentation and the bill of lading | McKinsey
“The foundation for digital shipping documentation is in place. Seamless eBL exchange is no longer a myth, it’s here. The time to act is now.”
NIELS NUYENS, CPO, DCSA
Enabling sustainability
The shift from paper to digital bills of lading reduces reliance on courier shipments, cutting associated CO2 emissions. At the same time, the control tracking registry enhances transparency by providing a secure, time-stamped record of document ownership and custody.
Next steps…
The interoperability framework is aligned with DCSA standards and global trade digitisation goals, including the ICC’s digital standards and the UN/CEFACT standards framework. Following the successful pilot with HMM, Suzano, and eBL providers CargoX and edoxOnline, other IGP&I-approved providers are onboarding. Planned transactions include Enigio and CargoX with HMM and a Fortune
500 shipper in Q2, and WaveBL and TradeGo with ONE and a large freight forwarder. The target is 100% eBL adoption by 2030 across container shipping, with interoperability as the foundation for global scale.
EXPLAINER
PUBLIC DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Public digital infrastructure, in this context, refers to digital platforms and systems that support financial and trade transactions. By enabling secure, fast, and transparent exchanges of data and payments, these systems reduce friction, lower costs, prevent fraud and tax evasion, improve access to finance and enhance trust among participants. They play a crucial role in connecting banks, regulators and businesses within global trade ecosystems.
CASE STUDY 7
Digital identities cut costs 70% and processing times 90%
The STDFIX platform, developed by Herong Digitech with support from the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), enables the integration of the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) and its digital counterpart, the verifiable LEI (vLEI) into cross-border trade documentation. By replacing manual processes and paper-based verifications with secure, interoperable digital workflows, STDFIX automates the majority of verification steps and ensures full traceability across multiple document types, including certificates of origin, invoices, contracts, and customs documentation. This approach significantly reduces costs, accelerates processing, simplifies operations, and lowers carbon footprints, demonstrating the measurable benefits of LEI- and vLEI-enabled digital trade tools for regulated international exchanges.
“Since integrating LEI and vLEI into our cross-border trade documentation via STDFIX, we’ve seen remarkable improvements. Verification costs per document dropped by nearly 70%—no more courier fees, stamps, or manual checks. What used to take days—like verifying certificates of origin—now happens in under 10 minutes. Our team no longer needs to reconcile conflicting registry data, and over 85% of identity and signature verification steps are now fully automated. Not only is the process faster and simpler, but we’ve also cut paper- based workflows by more than 80%, supporting our ESG and carbon reduction targets. This is a real game-changer for international trade.”
GUOHUA LIU, GENERAL MANAGER, FMW AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES, SHANGHAI
Enabling sustainability
The STDFIX enables fully paperless documentation, reducing CO2 emissions associated with printing, couriering, and storage. In pilot use, participating companies reported a 85% decrease in paper-based workflows for regulated cross-border exchanges. The LEI & vLEI traceability further supports ESG compliance in supply chains.
Next steps…
The STDFIX is launched and operational in the Chinese market, with the LEI established as the standard for corporate digital identity verification and the vLEI serving as a trusted authentication for electronic signatures on digital trade documents. The Herong Digitech team is developing an international mutual recognition of trust frameworks.
CASE STUDY 8
Invoice registry increases liquidity 220% and unlocks USD 100 billion in MSME working capital
The Reserve Bank of India’s Trade Receivables electronic Discounting System (TReDS) — powered by MonetaGo’s Secure Financing platform – has significantly de-risked the receivables discounting market, enabling the rapid growth of MSME financing. Since the beginning of 2023, the platform has recorded a 206% increase in MSMEs receiving financing and a 220% surge in MSME liquidity.
More recently, Singapore’s Trade Finance Registry (TFR) was launched in March 2023 to restore trust in the commodity trade finance sector following a series of fraud scandals and corporate collapses. Developed by the Association of Banks in Singapore in collaboration with financial institutions and powered by MonetaGo’s Secure Financing platform, the TFR forms part of a national strategy to digitally transform trade through secure, privacy-preserving infrastructure. In two years, the platform has onboarded over 50 banks and facilitated the verification of over USD 450 billion in trade transactions. Designed to address cross-border duplicate financing, global hashtag registry solutions are enabling real-time detection of duplicate documents and validation through trusted trade data sources to reduce fraud and tax evasion, without exposing sensitive information.
“The ABS is committed to upholding the integrity of and confidence in Singapore’s trade finance sector, and the TFR provides a very important layer of security to prevent multiple financing on the same trade transactions with multiple banks. This leads to greater trust among both financiers and borrowers. We are pleased to have selected MonetaGo to develop the TFR, taking advantage of their experience in this niche area and the use of their global hash registry to detect fraud across national borders. TFR will be handed over to ABS and its appointed operator after go-live.”
MRS ONG AI BOON, DIRECTOR, ASSOCIATION OF BANKS IN SINGAPORE
Enabling sustainability
These outcomes demonstrate how secure trade data registries empower sustainable supply chains, particularly by enhancing access to finance for underserved MSMEs and enabling more equitable trade participation.
Next steps…
MonetaGo is transforming global trade finance fraud prevention through a standards-first approach, harnessing encryption, hashing, and confidential computing to deliver a secure and interoperable infrastructure. Built for scalability and regulatory alignment, the platform ensures interoperability and compliance while preserving data privacy and is now expanding globally through partnerships with organisations such as SWIFT and regional deployments across ASEAN, the Middle East, and Africa.
EXPLAINER
TRANSPARENCY AND COMPLIANCE
eTransparency and compliance refers to digitalised and automated tracking, verification, and audit processes. By digitising documentation and embedding automated compliance checks, businesses can reduce errors, detect risks earlier, and meet regulatory requirements more efficiently. Secure, traceable data flows enhance accountability, while reducing reliance on manual processes and physical paperwork, paving the way for faster, fairer, and more reliable global trade.
CASE STUDY 9
AI cuts trade document processing times by 80%
Tesselate has transformed trade finance operations using next-generation Agentic AI technology, tackling persistent inefficiencies in complex workflows such as Letters of Credit (LC), collections, and loan servicing. By replacing manual, fragmented processes with intelligent, end-to-end orchestration, Tesselate reduces processing time, cost, and complexity while enhancing transparency and compliance. This system ensures secure, traceable, and compliant automation across fragmented platforms, including Microsoft, AWS, Google Cloud, and private infrastructures. Combining AI “Process” Agents, ERP integration via Hive.t, and institutional knowledge tools like Kinetic Brain, Tesselate enables frictionless execution from user intent recognition to document handling and compliance screening.
Enabling sustainability
Agentic orchestration creates fully digital audit trails with embedded compliance and provenance checks. This unlocks transparency across the trade lifecycle, facilitates ESG traceability, and reduces reporting risks over time.
Next steps…
The Agentic AI solution supports trade digitalisation, interoperability, and enterprise AI governance. At its core, the flexible Agentic Framework orchestrates workflows securely across Microsoft, AWS, Google Cloud, and private infrastructures via Tesselate’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling platform-agnostic adoption.
Pilot implementations are underway with leading banks, targeting high-impact workflows such as LC issuance, collections, and loan servicing. Expansion will follow a phased, modular approach, allowing institutions to progress from guided automation to full agentic orchestration while minimising disruption and maximising value.
CASE STUDY 10
AI reduces compliance errors 70% and improves accuracy 95%
TradeScreen is an AI-powered platform that automates trade document validation for compliance, operations and risk teams. It extracts and compares data across documents like bills of lading, invoices and letters of credit, checks for sanctions screening, maritime risks (vessel tracking), goods screening, trade-based money laundering (TBML), cross documentary checks for alignment with UCP 6004/ISBP 8215 rules all in one interface. Powered by Trademo’s proprietary vision models and exclusive Global Trade Knowledge Graph, it helps reduce errors and assess transaction risks faster.
4 Uniform Rules for Documentary Credits (UCP 600) — eBook — ICC Academy
5 Set of Guidance Papers on Recommended Principles and Usages around UCP 600 Rules
Enabling sustainability
TradeScreen promotes sustainability by eliminating paper-heavy processes through full digitisation of trade documents. This reduces manual effort and waste while ensuring compliance with global trade regulations.
Next steps…
TradeScreen will add more financial crime checks and case management. These enhancements, paired with a reporting dashboard, will give teams a single platform for end-to-end visibility, faster investigations, and stronger risk control.
“Our collaboration with Trademo exemplifies how innovative technology can transform global trade. TradeScreen delivers seamless digitisation, advanced automation, and 1000+ robust compliance checks for trade transactions, empowering businesses to navigate complex trade environments with confidence and agility.”
YANJKA REGAN, PRINCIPAL PRODUCT MANAGER, IBM CONNECTED TRADE PLATFORM
EXPLAINER
e TRACEABILITY
eTraceability refers to the ability to track goods and their associated data across every stage of the supply chain, from origin to final destination. By using technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification tags, QR codes, and digital twins, trade actors can monitor shipments in real time, ensure data integrity, and verify the provenance of materials. Enhanced traceability helps meet regulatory requirements, supports sustainability reporting, and builds trust by enabling transparent, auditable, and tamper-resistant records across borders.
CASE STUDY 11
Traceability technology reduces costs 70% and improves transparency 100%
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) supplies more than 70% of the world’s cobalt, a critical mineral used in electric vehicle batteries, smartphones, and energy storage systems. While large-scale mining operations are highly mechanised, artisanal and small-scale mining remains widespread and often takes place under unsafe, unregulated conditions. To address compliance and transparency challenges in cobalt sourcing, Glencore, Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), and China Molybdenum Co. (CMOC) launched ReSource in 2019. The digital platform provides end-to end traceability of cobalt shipments from the DRC to battery manufacturers, supporting both ESG objectives and regulatory compliance through tamper-resistant tracking and independent verification of material provenance.
“We strongly believe that higher transparency along the value chain will increase the sustainability of the metals supply chain, which is essential for the battery industry. Since 2023, 100% of the produced cobalt from Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu copper-cobalt mines is traced using the ReSource platform.”
LIANG WEI JULIE, VP OF ESG, CMOC GROUP LIMITED
Enabling sustainability
ReSource provides 100% material traceability from mine to battery manufacturer. By creating immutable records, enabling secure document uploads, and aligning with ESG reporting standards, it supports compliance with the EU Battery Regulation, the Battery Passport, and LME requirements. It also integrates trade and ESG data to help address Scope III risks and enhance lifecycle transparency.
Next steps…
ReSource is expanding beyond cobalt to other critical battery minerals, including nickel (already piloted), lithium, and graphite. Its modular architecture ensures interoperability with regulatory frameworks such as the EU Battery Regulation, the GBA Battery Passport, and Life Cycle Assessment tools. The next phase will enable broader supply chain adoption and integration of ESG metrics for a wider range of critical minerals.
CASE STUDY 12
Digital workflows make SME trade 60% faster, 15% cheaper
TradeOnChain is redefining how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) conduct international trade. By digitising paper-heavy processes and embedding automation, transparency, and decentralisation at its core, the platform simplifies cross-border transactions that were once costly, slow, and complex.
Among its pilot partners is MPG Instruments, a company specialising in the aerospace and defence sectors. MPG recently completed a pilot with the TradeOnChain platform, which provided a clear and accurate view of what regular use would look like for their business operations.
Through such pilots, TradeOnChain demonstrates how open-source, interoperable tools can make trade more accessible for SMEs, while improving supply chain resilience and sustainability. This case study explores the tangible benefits delivered through digital workflows, from lower costs and faster approvals to simpler compliance and enhanced traceability, showing how TradeOnChain paves the way for more inclusive and scalable global trade.
“We’ve cut order approval times by 30% — what used to take us 48 hours now gets done in about 33 hours. This change has freed up our team to focus on higher-value work instead of just processing approvals”
MPG INSTRUMENT
Enabling sustainability
At MPG Instruments, the platform has improved supply chain transparency by providing 85% better traceability across all product batches. This enhanced visibility allows the company to quickly identify the origin of goods, track suppliers, and monitor shipping routes when needed. By strengthening its ability to ensure responsible sourcing and react to potential risks, MPG Instruments is building more sustainable and resilient trade practices.
Next steps…
To scale up, TradeOnChain is rolling out pilot programs with SMEs and industrial partners, while engaging banks, logistics providers, and insurers. Its open-source, modular design allows phased adoption depending on each company’s digital readiness.
The platform already supports the UNCITRAL MLETR framework and has launched a hybrid crypto/ fiat payment system, enabling entrepreneurs in underbanked regions to access global trade. This innovation not only increases flexibility and traceability
but also bridges the gap between traditional finance and digital assets in international trade.
Through its partnership with FederItaly, SME onboarding is supported with training and guidance. Next developments include customs integration and AI-driven tools for compliance, contract validation, and risk management, positioning TradeOnChain as trusted infrastructure for inclusive and scalable digital trade.
Catalyst Programme
The Catalyst Programme is an ICC United Kingdom-led initiative to accelerate the digitalisation of trade corridors and global supply chains, focusing on connecting the major trade finance and logistics hubs across the Maritime Silk Route by 2030. The programme is designed to implement the vision set out in this report.
Aims
The programme aims to align and accelerate implementation by:
● Working together on one trade route connecting major trade finance and logistics hubs
● Testing and scaling open, interoperable solutions that work for all jurisdictions
● Aligning priorities, roadmaps and rollout for greater focus and impact
● Building bridges across the stakeholder matrix and levelling up global knowledge
● Identifying interoperability gaps and connecting ports, customs and finance processes to remove friction, cost and risk and increase profitability
● Avoiding duplication and streamlining approaches
● Showcasing and disseminating best practices and case studies to scale solutions across all trade routes
The programme is unique in its focus on interoperability across a major trade corridor, linking and connecting the major trade finance and logistics hubs. It is an opportunity to work with public and private sector experts in trade, law, business, tech and policy from across the ICC network as well as the International Centre for Digital Trade and Innovation (iC4DTI) and Digital Trade Test Bed (DTT) as a delivery partner.
References
This report builds on the mounting evidence of the benefits of trade digitalisation. For more information on key frameworks, business cases and case studies, see the following reports:
KEY FRAMEWORKS
ICC Roadmap to Interoperability and Trust at Scale, International Chamber of Commerce, 2025
ICC Digital Standards Initiative
BUSINESS CASES
Creating a Modern Digital Trade Ecosystem, G7, ICC United Kingdom, 2021
Quantitative Analysis of the Move to Paperless Trade, The Commonwealth, 2022
Study on the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, Boston Consulting Group, 2023
The multi-billion-dollar paper jam: Unlocking trade by digitalizing documentation, McKinsey & Company, 2022
CASE STUDIES
The following reports highlight 44 real-world case studies that set out the economic benefits of trade digitalisation with companies of all sizes across multiple sectors and jurisdictions.
Seizing the moment: Unleashing the potential of trade digitalisation, ICC United Kingdom, 2024
Key Trade Documents and Data Elements on the Frontlines, International Chamber of Commerce, 2024
The UK — Southeast Asia Trade Digitalisation Pilots, British Chambers of Commerce Singapore, 2024
Abbreviations used in this report
ABS Association of Banks in Singapore
AI Artificial Intelligence
AML Anti-Money Laundering
API Application Programming Interface
AWS Amazon Web Services
BIC Bank Identifier Code
BL Bill of Lading
BOC Bank of China
CMOC China Molybdenum Co.
CO2 Carbon dioxide
COFCO COFCO Industrial Food
CTR Control Tracking Registry
D/P Documents against Payment
DBS DBS Bank
DCSA Digital Container Shipping Association
DLT Distributed Ledger Technology
DRC Democratic Republic of Congo
DvP Delivery versus Payment
eBL Electronic Bill of Lading
ERP Enterprise Resource Planning
ERG Eurasian Resources Group
ESG Environmental, Social, and Governance
EU European Union
FX Foreign Exchange
HMM Hyundai Merchant Marine
ICBC Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
ICC International Chamber of Commerce
IMDA Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore
ISBP 745 International Standard Banking Practice for the Examination of Documents under Documentary Credits
ISIN International Securities Identification Number
ITFA International Trade and Forfaiting Association
KTDDE Key Trade Document and Data Elements
LC Letter of Credit
LEI Legal Entity Identifier
LME London Metal Exchange
MCP Model Context Protocol
MLETR UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records
MSME Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation
PIL Pacific International Lines
PINT Platform Interoperability API
RFID Radio Frequency Identification
SGTraDex Singapore Trade Data Exchange
SME Small and Medium-sized Enterprise
SWIFT Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication
TBML Trade-Based Money Laundering
TFR Trade Finance Registry
UCP 600 Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits
UNCITRAL United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
UN/CEFACT United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business
UOB United Overseas Bank
vLEI Verifiable Legal Entity Identifier