A blockchain-based system which would speed up the paperwork needed for exporting is being tested in New Zealand.
ASB Bank and technology firm VerifyUnion unveiled the technology on Thursday with one of the country's biggest meat exporters Greenlea Premier Meats making the first trade with a large Korean importer.
The technology creates a safe place where exporters can upload and share certificates of origin, government approvals, traceability information and other key documents with importers.
Blockchain's reputation for cyber security means the system will be trusted, VerifyUnion's chief executive AJ Smith says.
Smith said that ultimately he hoped the project would become a "single point of truth" which would not just be used by other Kiwi exporters but the entire Asia-Pacific.
"Just on the New Zealand side, it cuts off between two and four days normal trade.... Currently everyone's dependent on couriers to move these documents along. Blockchain is the perfect solution.
ASB said the platform will mean greater trust and speed with documentation.
"We're at a place where this technology has become more mature and scaleable. Bigger users like supply chain companies are the perfect users."
However, the programme needed another year or so of refinement before it could go out to the wider market.
Smith said it had the potential to be broadened out with artificial intelligence and the internet of things, to keep track of a myriad of things such as the humidity inside the containers.
ASB's general manager of global transaction banking, Greg Beehre, said the blockchain platform would speed up the trade process for all those in the supply chain.
Tony Egan: "It's providing a mechanism ti not only streamline work but also minimise risk."
In Greenlea's case, the trade involved the bank, the exporter, the shipping company, Maritime New Zealand and other government agencies, taking just one hour where it might normally have taken days.
"Plus, it offers traceability and is scalable across the whole supply chain ecosystem, giving all partners in the process a competitive advantage," Beehre said.
Greenlea Premier Meats chief executive Tony Egan said his firm exported to 40 different countries, and the new system had a lot to offer many complex industries like his.
"We're dealing with inventory control in plants, we're dealing with the loading out and trucking procedure, we're dealing with all the commercial aspects and verification aspects of the product from halal, right through to antibiotic free and hormone free, you name these days, grass fed.
"All those things over time can be built into this process of verification procedures that certain users can gain access to on a routine basis.
"It's providing a mechanism ot not only streamline work but also minimise risk."
Also involved in the test was insurer Vero, whose marine insurance division is one of the leading export insurers.
Allen Chong, Vero's executive manager of marine, said having secure verified insurance certificates was critical to protecting local businesses transit risks.
"Marine insurance is an old and very traditional form of insurance, but blockchain has a lot of potential to provide an efficient and reliable successor to previous paper-based systems. It's exciting to be moving marine insurance into the modern world of automation."
ASB says its next test trade will be in airfreight and it will announce a partner in a few weeks.
