Challenges and Opportunities of Digitalisation of International Trade (Series 3, Part 2 of 2)

We have been writing about the recently-released white paper from the International Chamber of Commerce France, called “Challenges and Opportunities of Digitalisation of International Trade.” In this three-part series, we have discussed the current state of international trade and the issues it faces. In this blog set, we began to discuss the solutions ICC France has suggested as ways to better streamline and digitise international B2B trade. We will continue to discuss several more recommendations from ICC France in the coming paragraphs.

Recommendations for companies and trade federations

Promote existing electronic certificates to businesses

The health crisis has contributed to an increase in the number of e-certificates of origin and e-ATA carnets. The actors in the French centralised export ecosystem centered on Team France Export should do considerably more to advertise the CCIP's online formalities portal to exporting enterprises, allowing for a quicker increase in user numbers. The CCIP has said that it is prepared to visit to regional CCIs to offer the ATA carnets. 61 Trade organizations representing globally active enterprises should inform their members more extensively about these excellent and easily available internet tools that are genuine time savers in their customs processes.

Integrating the international trade dimension into the digitalisation strategy of companies

Many businesses are implementing digitalization strategies to boost efficiency and responsiveness by automating repetitive and low-value-added jobs and gathering data that can be utilized commercially. This shift affects all internal support functions. However, the special demands of employees with respect to foreign partners, whether public or private, are not always adequately addressed, resulting in disconnections from some platforms and interruptions to document workflows.??

The digital strategy must be systematic and take into account the international environment, as shown by the design of the digital customer journey at CMA-CGM. Indeed, the design of a digital path for this major player in maritime transport, which is diversifying into other sectors (road and air transport), is based on a range of digital solutions at all stages of the customer path, from quotation to payment: -

• Access the site's e-offers?
• Price transparency?
• Make a reservation?
• Include high-value-added services?
• Send delivery instructions?
• Download the docs?
• Control bills of lading?
• Shipment tracking?
• Control notifications?
• Stick to the containers?
• Manage your e-bills?
• Online payment is available?

This is conceivable in a global context including 171 nations and engaging a significant number of partners and supervisory bodies. The internal choice of who pays the expense of the investment is critical since it is simpler to obtain small money to operate a trial project that will provide an appealing business case than it is to obtain funding for a more expensive overall strategy.

Be on the lookout for innovations proposed by start-ups

The French government does not place enough emphasis on start-ups that provide innovative solutions to practical needs encountered in the execution of international trade operations, such as currency management, container tracking, document digitization, connectors to ensure platform interoperability, and so on. Nonetheless, they have created novel goods and services, frequently in the form of software or platforms that save time and minimize risk. It would be extremely beneficial if the SMEs and federations who represent these start-ups could identify them and reveal the instruments available to integrate them into their export plan.???

It is required to map these stakeholders and build a typology of solutions presented inside a "TradeTech." Indeed, by examining the La French Tech62 dashboard, one will come across categories such as "Travel Tech," "Fin Techs," and "Media Tech," each of which is capable of federating start-ups by delivering novel solutions in the sphere of international commerce. Looking at the start-up sectors represented at Station F, one sees the same problem with titles such as "Legal Tech," "Fin Tech," "Blockchain," or "E-Commerce." This mapping, carried out by La French Tech with the assistance of international trade players, would allow for the enhancement of the value of available innovations and their dissemination to SMEs in order to assist them in improving their reactivity, visibility, and reliability in the midst of their international development

Engaging in pooling experiments

Numerous parties are involved in digitalisation solutions for a variety of reasons (transport, funding, control, etc.). It appears hence critical to do pooling tests. This is what lenders, carriers, and logisticians do with key partners in a given ecosystem to assure, for example, real-time container tracing, testing a paperless flow of products, or testing a trial project.

Establish a single standard for internal documents

Before commencing on a digitisation process, company representatives in the Task Force emphasized that work on standardizing internal documents such as invoices, documentary credits, packing notes, and so on was vital. This internal endeavor tries to standardize the format of the most regularly used commercial papers throughout a group's numerous entities. In fact, there might be major variances in document format between the headquarters and its branches. This, of course, is subject to the legal requirements in each country, although it is advised that international standards be adopted when they exist.?

Part 3.1 of the WTO and ICC Toolkit of Requirements for Paperless Trade lists the existing standards for commercial purchase documents:?-?

• UN/CEFACT/Cross Industry Catalogue??
• Application for CEFACT Cross Industry Quotation??
• Purchase order??
• Commercial invoice??
• Packing List??
• Dispatch notice

Conclusion

In the preparation of this white paper, ICC France, its task force, and the stakeholders have noted while they have provided recommendations, they acknowledge it won’t happen immediately.

The irreversible nature of the digital transformation has lent some level of enthusiasm to leaders in the B2B international trade industry; however, the transition will take a long time despite an acceleration during the pandemic. The paper notes the best outcome would be a holistic transformation that requires the implementation of new cooperation mechanisms, taking the human factor into account upstream.?

We appreciate the work undertaken by ICC France and look forward to how this knowledge will help international trade to transform in the future.??

Source: Challenges and Opportunities of Digitalisation of International Trade by ICC France (White Paper published on July 12, 2022)

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You can read Part 1 of the Series 3 here.

If you missed Series 1, which examines the fundamental baseline facts regarding global trade, you can read them here: Part 1 and Part 2.

For Series 2, which discusses the causes of the lack of fluidity and digitalization in the international commerce community, you can read them here: Part 1 and Part 2.