In our latest quarterly issue: Paperless trade as a key enabler of business continuity in the age of Coronavirus lockdowns, safeguarding trade participants’ health through digitization, accelerating global eDocs acceptance amid COVID-19 supply chain disruptions, key digital trade & trade finance milestones across diverse commodity verticals plus much more! + SUBSCRIBE

Industry News & Views

Trade finance digitization faces 'tipping point' amid coronavirus lockdowns: Demand for digital trade finance solutions is growing in light of COVID-19, with tech firms seeing the crisis as a potential tipping point for the industry to go digital (source: S&P Global). + READ MORE

Coronavirus Is Wreaking Havoc on Global Mail Delivery: Early coverage from the outset of the pandemic explores how COVID-19 has severely impacted shipping & trade document flows due to continued reliance on hand-delivered paper documents (source: Bloomberg). + READ MORE

5 ways to digitalize logistics & boost trade: The World Economic Forum identifies 5 key pillars of digitizing logistics & trade to spur global economic growth, incl. cross-border interoperability, digitizing financial & documentary flows, shared visibility + more (source: WEF). + READ MORE

COVID-19 and the consequences for Trade Finance: Assessing questions that COVID-19 raises for Trade Finance types such as Documentary Credits, Standby LCs etc., particularly in relation to what constitutes a ‘Force Majeure’ situation (source: Nordea Open Insights). + READ MORE

USDA & US Customs announce acceptance of ePhyto Certificates: The USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service and U.S. Customs & Border Protection announce acceptance of electronic Phytosanitary Certificates, effective immediately (source: USDA). + READ MORE

International Trade in the time of COVID-19: Insights from a WTO Customs expert on current trade regulations / guidelines for medical & cleaning products (incl. toilet paper!), all of which are experiencing a huge surge in demand (source: Roy Santana via LinkedIn). + READ MORE

HSBC: Blockchain platform will keep trade finance smooth despite coronavirus: A snapshot of blockchain trade finance solutions, incl. the soon-to-be commercially launched Contour (formerly Voltron) platform (source: Cointelegraph). + READ MORE

EBRD announces emergency trade finance support measures: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development announces trade finance support measures as part of its emergency €1bn Coronavirus 'solidarity' package (source: GTR). + READ MORE

Only electronic air waybills to be accepted in Oman: Oman leads the way in paperless trade, announcing it will only accept electronic Air Waybills from 1 April 2020 onwards, completely eliminating the use of physical paper bills for air cargo (source: Times of Oman). + READ MORE

Call on the Commission to address Customs issues: The European Assoc. for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics & Customs Services (CLECAT) calls on the European Commission to take COVID-19 relief measures, incl. eDocs & eCerts acceptance (source: CLECAT). + READ MORE

ICC partners with Singapore govt, banks & businesses in digital trade initiative: An overview of the TradeTrust digital initiative, involving the ICC, Singapore government, plus banks & corporates working towards a framework for digital trade (source: GTR). + READ MORE

Singapore, New Zealand & Chile inch towards digital economy pact: The three nations move close to signing a digital economy agreement connecting their customs single windows to enable interoperability and drive eB/L and eCO use (source: ZDNet). + READ MORE

Coronavirus Is Widening the Corporate Digital Divide: HBR contributors argue that although COVID-19 has greatly increased the stakes for digital transformation, a massive, yet-to-be-addressed 'digital divide’ has now taken shape in business & society (source: HBR). + READ MORE

Singapore, Australia to collaborate on digital economy initiatives: Singapore & Australia ink multiple agreements to collaborate on AI, digital identities, e-payments, and cross-border data flow as part of a bilateral digital economy agreement (source: ZDNet). + READ MORE

How will blockchain transform trade finance?: A financial journalist argues that widespread commercialization of blockchain could transform trade finance, unlocking trillions through cost-savings and process efficiencies (source: Nick Easen via Raconteur). + READ MORE

essDOCS News

NGFA-member group adopts CargoDocs to digitize 100k Agri B/Ls per year: NGFA-member group consisting of leading US agribusinesses selects CargoDocs to form the backbone of a nationwide digital barge document platform for its members’ trades. + READ MORE

TOTAL Trading & Shipping goes paperless for Barges at SEA-Tank 300 Terminal: TOTAL  moves to 100% paperless for all loadings at SEA-Tank 300 Terminal, no longer requiring Masters to disembark ships or inspectors to physically print, sign or distribute documents. + READ MORE

Rio Tinto & Bosai Minerals execute first ever paperless bauxite shipment: The two Companies, supported by DBS Bank and Agricultural Bank of China, recently achieved a major digital trade milestone with the 1st ever paperless trade in the bauxite segment. + READ MORE

Syrah Resources adopts and expands use of CargoDocs: essDOCS customer and leading graphite producer, Syrah Resources, expands digitization of its trade document processes via an integrated implemetation of CargoDocs. + READ MORE

essCert completes user migration for over 15,900 eCertify customers across 5 countries: Moving thousands of users to our upgraded essCert eCO solution, making it the world's largest, most sophisticated platform of its kind. + READ MORE

essDOCS in Numbers