Who knew that verifiable and digital documentation might move a little faster than paper?
Singapore and Australia have trialled – and quite liked – blockchain as a means of verifying the Certificates of Origin (COO) that document international trade. COOs are documents that describe the origins of goods and are issued by governments or authorised agencies. Exporting nations issue COOs and importing nations rely on their accuracy so they can understand how to treat incoming goods. Plenty of COOs are still issued on paper and therefore require manual processing, which is cumbersome and susceptible to fakery and other naughtiness.
