Newsletter | April 2026

Dear colleagues, members and partners,

This issue highlights continued global momentum in digital trade, featuring new legal developments in the Netherlands and India, as well as DSI’s ongoing capacity-building work to encourage implementation, interoperability and adoption. Both legal reform and industry standards are moving from framework development to practical execution.

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Standards

The ICC Digital Trade Navigator remains on track for a soft launch by early May, with a briefing for ICC National Committees scheduled for 29 April.  The Digital Trade Navigator will provide a comprehensive introduction to digital trade - covering legal, standards, trust, finance, and interoperability - designed to educate and prepare companies for digital trade transformation. The Digital Trade Navigator will also be the home of tools for developers including the KTDDE Implementation Guides (KIG).  Access to the Digital Trade Navigator will be open to all ICC members, via their National Committees.

The DSI Industry Advisory Board (IAB) Q1 meeting held in early March discussed the implementation of the DSI strategy to deliver interoperability across standards and trust frameworks by stepping up engagement across industry and trade IT infrastructure providers, as outlined in our Roadmap to Interoperability published in 2025.  The IAB also discussed expansion of the IAB beyond its 23 members, in order to achieve representation across key sectors running multinational supply chains. A preliminary pipeline of candidates is in place, and announcements of new members will be made in due course.

The beta version of the Digital Trade Readiness Assessment is live, and the submission deadline has been extended to 15 April 2026 to allow final companies more time to complete their submission. The assessment offers organisations a straightforward way to evaluate their management, data, and cybersecurity capabilities, and provides benchmarking insights to support digital trade adoption. Assessment link here.

Interoperability remains central to scaling eBL adoption. At the recent UNESCAP workshop in Bangkok, FIT Alliance members, BIMCO, DCSA and FIATA, reinforced interoperability as critical to scaling eBLs. Progress on standardised data sets was highlighted, alongside practical actions for governments, including regulatory sandboxes, legal modernisation, and awareness-building.  Further details and presentation slides are available here.                                                                                          

Legal

NCD Tracker (NEW). DSI is leading the development of a Negotiable Cargo Documents (NCD) Convention Tracker, to complement our MLETR tracker. This tool will offer a staged view of country progress towards signing, covering preparatory actions and policy developments, enabling governments and industry to identify gaps and accelerate adoption. The NCD tracker, will in principle be open access as a public reference tool. A global advisory panel has been named, and we would like to thank its members - Beate Czerwenka, Gerard Hartsink, Grant Hunter, Ivor Istuk, Andrea Tang, Jun Xu - for their dedication to this cause.

The Netherlands has adopted eBL legislation aligned with MLETR. On 31 March 2026, the Dutch Senate passed legislation recognising electronic bills of lading (eBLs), aligned with the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR). This increases global trade coverage under enabling legal frameworks from 27.89% to 31.17% by export share, reflecting continued momentum in legal alignment and supporting DSI’s work to expand the global legal infrastructure needed to enable the practical, cross-border use of electronic transferable records. Read the full legislation here.

China is advancing legal reform for digital trade, with China’s revised Maritime Code - aligned with MLETR principles - set to come into effect this May, DSI actively contributed to discussions focused on the critical next phase: implementation. DSI highlighted the need for clear judicial guidance and operational frameworks to enable the real-world use of electronic trade instruments. Members of the FIT Alliance, including BIMCO, DCSA, and DSI Industry Advisory Board member Bertrand Chen, emphasised that scaling electronic bills of lading (eBLs) depends on interoperability, standards alignment, and cross-sector coordination. The consensus was clear: legal reform must be matched with technical and commercial readiness to bridge the gap between policy and execution. DSI continues to support China’s transition by working with industry and government stakeholders to ensure that legal alignment translates into practical, scalable digital trade adoption. Download DSI’s presentation in Chinese here. 

India launches Digital Trade Facilitation Bill for consultation. On 9 February, India released its Digital Trade Facilitation Bill 2026 for public consultation. The Bill recognises electronic trade documents and introduces frameworks for digital identity and trust services, aligned with MLETR and MLIT principles. DSI has submitted recommendations focused on implementation and cross-border recognition.  Read DSI's full response here.

Philippines Advances MLETR-Aligned Legislation. The Philippines is progressing legislation to recognise electronic transferable records (ETRs), with provisions closely aligned to the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR). The draft framework establishes the legal equivalence of electronic and paper-based transferable documents. With this development, the Philippines becomes the fourth jurisdiction in Southeast Asia to introduce MLETR-aligned legislation, following Singapore, Timor-Leste, and Thailand, reinforcing regional momentum towards legal harmonisation for digital trade. DSI continues to engage with stakeholders to support the operationalisation of the legislation, ensuring that legal recognition is complemented by standards alignment, system reliability, and industry adoption to facilitate real-world use of electronic trade instruments.

Timor-Leste recently hosted a workshop on advancing digital trade, with over 80 participants from the public and private sectors. Organised by the Ministry of Trade, UK ASEAN Open Trade Pillar, and DSI, the event focused on operationalising MLETR and next steps for implementation, with strong demand for further capacity-building to support integration under the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA).

Kind Regards,

The ICC Digital Standards Initiative Team