The eCO on block chain has been developed by vCargo Cloud for SICC and was officially launched on Tuesday. It is the world’s first electronic certificate of origin for shippers to verify the origin of manufactured goods, versus the traditional paper method. Based on block chain for security and efficiency the system uses QR Codes allowing eCOs to be scanned, verified and printed.
Desmond Tay ceo of VCC noted the traditional system was very paper based. “It is increasingly difficult to manage in terms of authentication and fraud,” he said.
Victor Mills, chief executive of SICC highlighted the cumbersome nature of the existing process.
“If ever there was a process calling out for automation it is the issuance of certificates of origin. Today, almost unbelievably, we and all other authorised operators in Singapore are still processing huge volumes of paper in what is essentially still a 19th century process. The only thing missing is the quill pen and the ink stand, everything else is the same,” he quipped.
VCC aims to promote the platform globally, starting out in Asia with major manufacturing exporting countries such as Japan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka using a pay-per-use model.
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