Costa Rican Customs Authority first in Latin America to sign up to Tradelens

TradeLens announced today that the Costa Rican Customs Authority will integrate with their blockchain underpinned platform to review containerized shipment events and transportation documents, including bills of lading.

Important information recorded within specific data fields in transportation documents will be used in risk assessments trials with TradeLens making trade easier for compliant companies doing business in the country while assisting in the identification of fraudulent activities.

Better logistics planning

Customs of Costa Rica also plans to share critical event information via the TradeLens platform, making available customs releases and other critical milestones to permissioned parties. The sharing of time-critical events via the TradeLens platform will allow importers and exporters in Costa Rica to gain access to earlier information and better plan logistic operations, this includes other supply chain entities like APM Terminals.

Gerardo Bolaños, General Director of Customs stated, “Customs of Costa Rica is excited to explore the benefits that blockchain can offer local importers and exporters. Collaborating with an ecosystem that already exists within the TradeLens platform allows us to review this new technology quickly and easily. Making it easier for legitimate international trade with Costa Rica is an important joint goal of this evaluation.

Announced in January 2018 as a collaboration between Maersk and IBM, TradeLens is a global supply chain digitization platform, built on open standards. TradeLens is a neutral solution created with feedback from the network participants and designed to modernize the industry for the better - benefitting participants who can now collaborate across the global trade ecosystem. Important milestones are being achieved to facilitate trade working together with customs authorities in Abu Dhabi, Pakistan and other locations.

“TradeLens connecting to Costa Rica Customs is an essential step for us in Central America to build a platform that spurs everyone to think differently and understand how shared, permissioned data can be used to increase efficiency and drive out waste. We look forward to working with the team in Costa Rica Customs to realize these benefits for all in the local supply chain”. said Thomas Sproat, Global Head of Network atTradeLens.

About Tradelens

TradeLens Foundational Carriers include A.P. Moller – Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), and Ocean Network Express (ONE) Pte. Ltd.

The TradeLens network consists of:

• 200+ worldwide ports and terminals directly connected
• 55 million containers tracked
• 4.7 billion shipping events
• 27 million documents
• 45+ intermodal carriers including 5 Class 1 rail providers in the USA
• TradeLens is working with authorities across 17 countries and 6 continents