In our latest quarterly issue: The UK’s Electronic Trade Documents Act (ETDA) dominates trade & trade finance headlines, industry collaboration towards common eBL standards and interoperability starts to bear fruit, navigating the impact of recent legal reforms around using negotiable eDocs + much more! + SUBSCRIBE

Industry News & Views

"Paper but better" – Will digital really be more reliable under the Electronic Trade Documents Act?: 8 key takeaways from an HFW webinar, incl. clarity on what constitutes a 'reliable system' – a pre-requisite for achieving 'ETD status' under the Act (source: HFW). + READ MORE

FIT Alliance launches eBL Declaration: FIT Alliance – the industry group founded by DCSA, ICC, BIMCO, FIATA & SWIFT – launches declaration to accelerate eBL adoption through common, interoperable standards (source: FIT Alliance). + READ MORE

Electronic Trade Documents Act paves way for digitalised trade in the UK: An insightful summary on the ETDA's significance for the UK, which, according to the government, could enhance the UK's economy by £1bn over the next decade (source: Osborne Clark). + READ MORE

Analysis: As pioneering UK reforms go live, what’s next for electronic trade documents?: Industry experts across banking, legal and tech weigh in on the future of digital trade & trade finance after the arrival of the ETDA (source: GTR). + READ MORE

UNCTAD launches Review of Maritime Transport 2023: In its analysis of global maritime trends, UNCTAD’s 2023 report highlights shipping’s resilience, forecasting that maritime trade will grow 2.4% in 2023 and more than 2% between 2024 & 2028 (source: UNCTAD). + READ MORE

Navigating the Transition from Paper BL to eBL: MSC releases an eBL white paper providing practical insights into digitalizing bill of lading processes and transitioning from paper to digital (source: MSC ). + READ MORE

BIMCO publishes first-ever Standard Mate’s Receipt: BIMCO publishes a standard Mate’s Receipt to ‘encourage harmonization of paper processes in bulk shipping and help build a solid foundation for digital transformation’ (source: BIMCO). + READ MORE

ICC enhances and aligns ISBP, eUCP and eURC rules to streamline trade finance operations: Revised rules became effective on 1 July 2023, updated to align eUCP and eURC with the Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR) (source: TFG). + READ MORE

White Paper on Transfer of MLETR-Compliant Titles: Providing details on meeting MLETR requirements for Electronic Transferable records, plus practical considerations when implementing systems that fulfil these (source: UN/CEFACT). + READ MORE

Global trade still depends on 4 billion paper documents daily. The U.K. is trying to change that: Coverage on the significance of the UK ETDA, outlining the key issues faced globally by the shipping & trade industry’s reliance on paper (source: Fortune). + READ MORE

Leveraging eDocs for sustainable agri trade: Trade development specialist, Craig Atkinson, lays out the issues governments & traders face in adopting eDocs & eCerts, and how solving these will unlock a sustainable future for agri trade (source: Hinrich Foundation). + READ MORE

ICC and Swift unveil first API standards for guarantees and standby letters of credit: ICC & Swift release API specifications for guarantees & standby LCs, as part of efforts to standardize and streamline the entire lifecycle of these financial instruments (source: ICC). + READ MORE

India G20 meeting agrees on paperless trade: Trade ministers adopt ten ‘high-level principles on digitization of trade documents’ to provide guidance for countries implementing digital trade measures, following a recent G20 trade summit held in India (source: Tribune India). + READ MORE

Handbook on Measuring Digital Trade, Second Edition: OECD releases a handbook providing a conceptual and measurement framework for digital trade, aligned with broader standards used by data scientists for macroeconomic statistics (source: OECD). + READ MORE

What are no-code platforms and how can they speed digitalization?: Applicable to any industry, no-code platforms enable the building & config of software with little or no coding, and are poised to play a key role in accelerating digitalization (source: WEF). + READ MORE

ICE Digital Trade News

HFW certifies ICE CargoDocs as a ‘reliable system’ under the UK's Electronic Trade Documents Act: With this ETDA reliable system certification from global law firm HFW, ICE Digital Trade openly invites interested parties to participate in Local Law eBL trials. + READ MORE

The Electronic Trade Documents Act – What’s next for mass adoption of eBLs?: With the legal hurdle to eBL adoption now crumbling, ICE Digital Trade Co-Head, Alexander Goulandris, shares his views on the remaining hurdles to unblocking mass eBL adoption. + READ MORE

The Electronic Trade Documents Act – Why it matters and what it means for the use of eBLs: ICE Digital Trade Co-Head, Marina Comninos, shares her thoughts on why this huge digital trade milestone matters and what it means for the use of eBLs. + READ MORE

First-ever eBL transaction for Turkish Exports completed using ICE CargoDocs: The milestone transaction covered mineral concentrates export, involving a global commodity producer & trader, Wilhelmsen Port Services, and Fednav Limited. + READ MORE

Surecomp & ICE Digital Trade cement partnership to drive electronic trade document exchange: Teaming up with Surecomp to enable enhanced digital trade finance capabilities for corporates and banks across the globe. + READ MORE

ICE Digital trade embraces the FIT Alliance eBL declaration: Signing the FIT Alliance eBL declaration to support the industry group’s vision for common, interoperable standards aimed at accelerating eBL adoption. + READ MORE

ICE Digital Trade in Numbers