The widespread use of Electronic Cargo Security Devices (eCSDs) would create many new benefits to both private industry and the border enforcement agencies, logistics company Expeditors International said in April 11 comments in CBP's docket on creating a 21st Century Customs Framework. "Trade interests and Customs interests both would be well served if the same trade facilitation benefits currently given to CSDs were afforded to eCSDs," Expeditors said. Such devices would be one way to improve trade security within the e-commerce supply chain, the company said.
Livingston International will take part in blockchain pilot involving the Canada Border Services Agency, the company said in an April 3 news release. The pilot will use TradeLens, a "blockchain-enabled digital shipping solution jointly developed" by IBM and A.P. Moller-Maersk, it said. "Livingston will serve as the first customs broker to leverage the TradeLens platform for brokerage automation," the company said. "Livingston's role in the pilot will be to enter and access information on shipments and streamline internal procedures without compromising accuracy or security. The CBSA is participating in the TradeLens pilot to determine what role the platform could play in its business processes."
The regulatory and legal aspects of CBP's blockchain efforts will likely "ramp up" if the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee recommends moving forward based on the results of the proof of concept testing, said Vincent Annunziato, director of CBP’s Business Transformation and Innovation Division (BTID). At that point, the Office of Regulations and Rulings would have to get involved by reviewing requirements that weren't necessary during the test, which simulated the NAFTA and CAFTA certificates of origin process, he said during a recent interview.
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Correction: A blockchain would reduce some of the document storage requirements because the data would be "stored on the servers it's coming across," said Vincent Annunziato, director of CBP’s Business Transformation and Innovation Division (see 1903110016). Also, Barnes Richardson lawyer Lawrence Friedman discussed the issue of creating a new obligation to provide data from the "ground up" for a product.
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There's a consensus that CBP's Proof of Concept (POC) for blockchain using NAFTA and CAFTA certificates of origin showed that the technology deserves further consideration, said Emily Beline, senior attorney at FedEx, which participated in CBP's test through the company's customs brokerage, FedEx Trade Networks. Despite the enthusiasm, it's clear there are also many regulatory and legal issues that will need exploration, some of which were discussed in CBP's assessment of the POC (see 1903060043). Beline and others discussed blockchain as part of a March 8 panel at the International Trade Update at the Georgetown University law school (see 1903070025).
Most participants in CBP's Proof of Concept (POC) for blockchain using NAFTA and CAFTA certificates of origin reported general approval for the technology while noting some new redundancies created, CBP said in a newly released assessment. The assessment, dated Nov. 28, 2018, was released after allowing the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee to review the document during its Feb. 27 meeting (see 1812060007). The test "produced critical feedback as well, coming most evidently from the trade community," CBP said. "Unlike other respondents, those from the trade indicated that the POC did not increase the efficiency of their workflow."
There's already heavy industry interest in taking part in the next blockchain proof of concept involving intellectual property rights, said Vincent Annunziato, director of CBP’s Business Transformation and Innovation Division, at the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee's Feb. 27 meeting. "We are almost 100 percent definite with moving forward" soon with the intellectual property rights piece, he said. "We're hearing now that we're having about 70 people that want to come and participate. We're a little worried about handling all of you coming in, so that's great news." CBP is also working with the Department of Homeland Security on a test of "verifiable credentials" that uses "third-party verification through consensus to prove somebody is who they say they are."
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