Advancing interoperability in trade. Those of you who have been following our journey – recently mapped in our publication Digitalising Global Trade: A roadmap to interoperability and trust at scale will know that we have been developing the KTDDE Implementation Guides (KIGs) which provide technical teams, developers and ERP/ platform providers with “universal translators” to the over 50 data standards, semantics, and national specifications which may be contained in a single trade document. 

The KIGs can be essential tools for interoperability, but only if they are used by IT infrastructure providers - first to interoperate across the data standards landscape, and second to integrate into product and system roadmaps for the future. 

Thus, on 10 September, DSI partnered with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to host the Digital Trade Transformation Forum at the WTO headquarters in Geneva. Bringing together the end-to-end supply chain together with key IT infrastructure providers such as Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Google and SAP, as well as fintechs including, Komgo, ICE Digital Trade, Enigio, and IQAX.  The Forum explored how we as a community can work together to bridge interoperability gaps, particularly connecting corporate ERPs which house key trade data.  Thank you to IAB and LRAB members who participated in the meeting – including the ASEAN Economic Community, BIMCO, DCSA, EBRD, FIATA, GLEIF, GS1, GSBN, HSBC, ICC Germany, ICISA, IPCSA, JP Morgan, Swift, as well as organisations such as the European Association of Corporate Treasurers, GAFTA, Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, ISO and Paris Europlace. Stay tuned for our report on the event.

Next up: Deep dive workshops with sectors to address specific ERP interoperability issues, starting with commodities followed by retail / consumer products. We wish to thank the WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and WCO Secretary General Ian Saunders for their remarks and participation, as well as to our partner, the ADB. Our thanks also to IAB Chair Stephan Wolf for coining the phrase “universal translator” during the workshop which he co-moderated with our close collaborator, Oswald Kuyler of the ADB.

Sibos 2025. Driving convergence on standards in ERP and IT infrastructure can greatly enable seamless data flow. At the same time, we continue to experiment on the role that AI can play in helping to bridge interoperability gaps, particularly at scale and for SMEs where bilateral and limited multilateral attention is unlikely to occur.  On 30 September on the sidelines of Sibos in Frankfurt, DSI and partners Microsoft, ANZ, HSBC and Lloyds demonstrated how generative AI can bridge interoperability gaps in bank trade finance processes.  By aligning AI with global standards, the industry can reduce errors, cut costs, and accelerate the shift away from paper-based processes. Read article here.

Building interoperable digital trade laws. On 15 September, the Legal Reform Advisory Board (LRAB) convened to discuss two significant legal developments: 

(1) LRAB had the pleasure of welcoming Yanying Li, Legal Officer from UNCITRAL, who provided an insightful overview of the forthcoming Negotiable Cargo Documents (NCD) Convention. This new convention will complement the Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR) to further support the digitalisation of multimodal negotiable cargo documents. 

(2) Additionally, the LRAB discussed France’s Decree No. 2025-811 following an informative presentation by the ICC France Secretary General, Emmanuelle Butaud-Stubbs. The Decree integrates MLETR into the domestic law and strengthens France’s alignment by introducing requirements for digital ID and third-party certification on “reliable method”. Together, these updates underscore the ongoing momentum towards creating secure, interoperable legal frameworks for digital trade.

Legislation, pilots and port digitalisation in Peru. The seminar on 18 September, co-hosted by ICC Perú, AmCham Perú, the Lima Chamber of Commerce, and IFCOM discussed the challenges and opportunities of digitalising cross-border trade for Peru. While legislation to recognise electronic records will help, equally important are awareness-building, use cases, and pilot projects. Activities around the single window and port digitalisation will support this transition in light of the Port Component of the Single Electronic Window for Foreign Trade (VUCE) enabling the exchange of information related to bills of lading in accordance with international standards via the new act modifying Regulation of Law N30860. This act also establishes a dedicated working group that could help drive it forward. 

Private sector drive for digital trade in Colombia. The private sector is stepping forward to embrace digitalisation as the economy gradually works to internationalise and diversify. At the Transformacion Digital del Comercio Internacional: Nuevas Fronteras Globales, held by the Bogota Chamber of Commerce on 22 September, speakers consistently urged participants to raise competitiveness through faster adoption of digital transformation, AI, and international standards. While Colombia has a legal framework for eBLs, change remains incremental, and digitalisation must be positioned as an enabler of long-term growth rather than disruption. Our thanks to Maria Monica Conde Barragan, the Secretary General of ICC Colombia and her team, for their efforts to push forward the digital trade agenda. 

Pamela Mar

Managing Director

pamela.mar@iccwbo.org

Hannah Nguyen

Director, Digital Ecosystems

hannah.nguyen@iccwbo.org

Tianmi Stilphen

Lead, Legal Reform and Regulatory Affairs

stilphen.tianmi@iccwbo.org