NEW ZEALAND EXPORTING
HISTORY
ASB, in partnership with VerifyUnion,
has successfully launched this
country’s first bank blockchain
single trade window. It comes after
the platform was used by Kiwi
meat exporter Greenlea Premier
Meats to make a trade with a large
Korean importer. The platform was
used in parallel to the traditional
trade process, and ASB’s general
manager for global transaction
banking Greg Beehre says all the
relevant documents relating to the
trade were able to be uploaded,
shared and updated within the
secure platform, which will save time
for all those involved in the supply
chain – from ASB, Greenlea and
the shipping company, to Maritime
New Zealand and other government
agencies. “This is a significant
new chapter in the history of New
Zealand sharing our products with
the rest of the world. We’re proud to
progress New Zealand’s single trade
window and excited to be using
blockchain technology to digitise
and improve the trade process for
our customers,” he says. Having
a secure blockchain platform to
conduct business not only reduces
the time New Zealand exporters will
need to spend on documentation
throughout the trade process, but
also reduce the risk of fraud and
cyber security threats. Greenlea
chief financial officer Jack Vollebregt
says the company is exporting
to 40 different countries and the
blockchain platform removes the
weak spots and ensures integrity of
the data. “We also especially like the
instant translation capability which
will limit any misunderstandings or
human error that can come from
dealing with businesses based
in different countries and time
zones,” Beehre says. “Plus, it offers
traceability and is scalable across
the whole supply chain ecosystem,
giving all partners in the process a
competitive advantage.” Witnessing
the milestone trade was VerifyUnion,
who designed the platform for
ASB. “New Zealand is an export led
economy. It was really important
to us to be able to use emerging
technologies to help ASB solve a
real problem facing its exporting
customers,” chief executive AJ
Smith says. “At the documentation
layer, the blockchain-enabled
supply chain allows partners to
access key documents, such as a
bill of loading, certificates of origin
and other documents required
by customs, which streamline
these processes. The application
of blockchain technology in trade
creates the potential for multibeneficial
productivity gains to
the supply-chain.” Also involved
in the test is insurer Vero, whose
marine insurance division is one of
the leading export insurers in New
Zealand; and Prodoc, New Zealand’s
leading export documentation
processing company. “New Zealand
exporters are some distance from
most of their overseas markets, and
having secure verified insurance
certificates is critical to protecting
local businesses from the risk of
transit incidents,” Vero spokesman
Greg Beehre
Allen Chong says. “Marine insurance
is an old and very traditional form of
insurance, but blockchain has a lot
of potential to provide an efficient
and reliable successor to previous
paper-based systems.” Prodoc
chief executive Steve Cox says
using couriers and email for the ‘last
mile’ of documentation has always
been a source of cost and possible
fraud. “By reducing the cost and
bringing in blockchain to verify the
authenticity of documentation, the
trade can be facilitated faster and
the trust relationship between the
exporter and their customer can be
improved.” In its quest to continue to
innovate, ASB says the next stage is
doing a trade via airfreight.
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