Border Force is celebrating a successful trial of blockchain-based cross-border document trades.

Australian Border Force (ABF), the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA), and Singapore Customs, along with industry participants, have concluded a blockchain trial that looked at whether trade documents can be issued and verified digitally across two independent systems, reducing cross-border transaction costs.

The blockchain trial was initiated to test the interoperability of two digital verification systems – the ABF’s Intergovernmental Ledger (IGL) and IMDA’s TradeTrust reference implementation.

The scheme’s proponents say they were successful. 

“The trial demonstrated Australia’s capability in issuing high integrity digital trade documents that can be instantly authenticated, provenance traced, and digitally processed,” ABF said in a statement. 

“QR-codes embedded with unique proofs are inserted into digital Certificates of Origin (COO), enabling immediate verification for authenticity and integrity of the document when scanned or machine-read. 

“A key success of the trial is the acceptance of verifiable COOs by a regulatory authority, Singapore Customs.” 

COOs are usually issued on paper and businesses regularly wait days to receive the hard-copy document via courier before dispatching to multiple parties, including customs agencies, brokers, and banks. Paper trade documents are generally required by authorities to prove authenticity and integrity.

ABF Commissioner Michael Outram said he was pleased with the positive results.

“ABF is proud to pioneer cutting-edge digital verification projects in Australia,” Commissioner Outram said. 

“We understand this collaboration is among the first to involve multiple government agencies from two countries to achieve cross-border document interoperability.

“Digital verification and verifiable documents show promise as a ‘circuit-breaker’ to disrupt persistent paper-based evidence required by authorities,” he said.