CargoX has been granted approval by the International Group of P&I Clubs for its blockchain document transfer (BDT) platform to be used for electronic Bill of Lading transactions, the company reports.
The International Group of P&I Clubs (the IG) is an unincorporated association of the 13 principal underwriting Protection & Indemnity (P&I) Associations (Clubs). Between them, they provide liability cover for approximately 90% of the world’s ocean-going tonnage.
“CargoX is fully committed to building trust among partners in the supply chain industry in a trustless business world” said Stefan Kukman, founder and CEO of CargoX.
“Providing a fast, secure, and efficient way to transfer documents of title, and herewith the ownership of the transferred goods, is of fundamental importance to global trade. We are proud to have been awarded the trust of such respectable institutions, members of the IG P&I. We are looking forward to the future.”
Up until February 2010, the rules of all the group’s clubs specifically excluded liabilities in respect of the shipping of cargo under electronic trading systems, before relaxing its rules to allow electronic systems administered by ESS, Bolero, e-title, GlobalShare, and Wave to be introduced.
CargoX has now been added to this list of electronic systems providers, and is the only system built on a neutral, public blockchain network, namely the Ethereum network.
Users of the platform can issue, exchange and sign a variety of supply chain encrypted documents on the blockchain, with no need for a central server or registry. The system is supported by a legal framework known as the Special Terms and Conditions (ST&C) that facilitates the transfer and endorsement of electronic bills of lading.
While the system removes the need for a paper bill, there is scope to revert to paper where it is necessary to do so, CargoX notes.
