CHAPTER 10
Electronic Documents on exporters, importers, export and import authorities, as well as the many service providers to the international trade community. Until as recently as five years ago, the processes for handling documentation were firmly entrenched in the nineteenth century. Each country had its own unique sets of regulations and documentation requirements, which were interpreted and enforced by the thousands of bureaucrats whose livelihoods depended upon the proliferation of red tape. Paper was the key. Copies were king. Some countries (e.g., Columbia) required from 24 to 36 copies of certain import documents so that each of the agencies, bureaus and commissions within the government would have their own set for their files. The advent of international airfreight, faxes, PCs, the Internet and wireless communication has coincided with political and social shifts towards regionalization and globalization forcing traditionally slow-to-change governments, customs authorities and businesses into the 21st century. For the savvy international exporter and importer, several of these changes (most notably, the electronic filing of standardized export/import documents) should result in significant reductions in paperwork and savings of time and money. But this changeover to “paperless” documents is in its early stages and there are some cautions that must be observed:
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE HAS HAD A REVOLUTIONARY EFFECT
1. Electronic filing systems are not “customer based.” They have been implemented to meet the data and revenue collection needs of nations or regional trading pacts, rarely the needs of exporters and importers. 2. Systems and documentation are often incompatible from one nation to another. 3. Some bureaucrats (and even nations) will continue to require paper documents as “backups” for the electronic ones into the foreseeable future. 4. The legal status of “electronic originals” with signatures, notary seals, and other authorizations or validations, is unresolved. Therefore, hard copies of many documents (including the all-important “negotiable bill of lading”) still must accompany export and import shipments.
Future Trends in Electronic Documentation Recent approaches taken by specific countries to address the four issues listed above are enlightening in that they project trends for the near future. According to a survey of customs reform and modernization trends conducted by the World Customs Organization (WCO), nearly 90 percent of customs administrations are planning on extending their use of technology to include such items as artificial intelligence, bar coding and document imaging. Their goal is to establish “optimized electronic communication links between customs and business” that
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