TradeLens, a digital platform launched by IBM and A P Moller-Maersk, has announced the successful completion of what it describes as an innovative letter of credit (L/C) transacted with HSBC and agrichemical giant Syngenta.

Agrichemical product was shipped from South Korea to Bangladesh using an entirely paperless process using a digital bill of lading underpinned by blockchain technology.

Milestone development

TradeLens considers the transaction's use of a digital bill of lading is a milestone development given that just 0.1 per cent of original bills of lading are digitised.

With the end-to-end solution via TradeLens now available for trade finance transactions, original bills can move to paperless processes for all involved.

Document sharing

During the transaction involving HSBC and Syngenta, all associated documentation was shared among the parties, including the L/C issuing bank, via the TradeLens platform.

Digitised documents included the electronic bill of lading directly from the ocean carrier Sealand-A Maersk, the commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin and certificate of analysis, as well as the bank collection documents and the bill of lading - all underpinned by blockchain and visible to permissioned parties as soon as they were uploaded to the platform.

Syngenta estimated savings of 10 days in document processing lead time in this shipment and avoided extra costs due to delayed paperwork, such as potential destination detention and demurrage costs.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or Coastline Solutions.