Compliance Screening without becoming a regulatory expert

Our goal is to make it easier for organizations involved in international trade and transport to comply with the enormous amount of rules and regulations without becoming a regulatory expert. Compared to domestic trade, international trade is complex. Each country has its own set of regulations, procedures and trade documents, which are constantly updated. International transactions are subject to a broad range of policy domains, ranging from export control and sanction, customs, health, safety, economic and environmental regulations. Despite initiatives to harmonize regulations, reduce red tape and administrative burdens, the number of regulatory updates keeps on growing. Organizations involved in international trade and transport must understand all these regulations and demonstrate compliance with all relevant regulations and get caught in a maze of rules, regulations, and procedures that only experts can really understand. The result: significantly higher cost of international trade, missed opportunities and reduced economic growth. We are working with our partners to help reduce the cost of compliance in international trade by building a capability that will provide stakeholders in international trade and transport with the information they need to comply with a large variety of regulations, rules, and sanctions when they export, prepare shipments, book cargo and move cargo across borders. A capability that automatically checks every contract or shipment for potential compliance issues and supports these organizations in resolving these issues.

The first step is the realization of the International Trade and Transport Compliance checker (ITTS). ITTS can take data from input points which provide information on the goods in question. Letters of credit, open account transactions data, Commercial Invoices, and other documentation & data (see next slide trade finance automation).

The second step is to building, collecting and updating the world’s largest regulation and data compliance database  

Sanctions lists, export controls regulations, law enforcement notices, and other compliance data are available in different languages and data architectures. To solve this problem, we are building the world’s largest compliance database. We check publicly available lists, regulations, and compliance data to ensure the latest information is available in the system. Our platform is powered by automated data ingestion, underpinned by a proprietary architecture, and easily accessible through powerful search capabilities.  Providing up-to-date information by:

• checking publicly 1,000+ lists for updates every 5 minutes.  

• continuously monitoring restricted commodities lists (Dual-Use, Military), sanctions and embargoes across the globe.

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Next Step open standards for smart regulations

To enable our vision of a comprehensive service that can provide any stakeholder in international trade with all relevant compliance information for their transaction, we are collaborating with leading scientists in the field of law and computer science to develop the infrastructure with open standards for smart regulations. Smart regulations provide users with a simple interface to the complex body of regulations that govern their operations. A simple interface that uses information about a proposed shipment in combination with a machine-readable version of the regulations to explain what specific regulatory requirements apply to that shipment. 

International trade is becoming increasingly complex, with regulators and businesses facing significant challenges in navigating the vast and varied landscape of trade regulations and compliance requirements. Key issues based on the use cases starting with international trade finance automation include illustrated below

• Complexity and Volume of Regulation and Compliance Data:

International transactions involve extensive documentation and compliance with numerous regulations, which can be time-consuming and costly.

• Trade Finance Automation:

The trade finance process is often manual and inefficient, leading to delays and increased costs for businesses.

• HS Code Product Classification:

Accurate classification of goods using Harmonized System (HS) codes is critical for customs clearance but is prone to errors and inconsistencies.

• Automated Customs Clearance:

The customs clearance process is often slow and cumbersome, causing delays and financial penalties for businesses.

• Risk Assessment:

Assessing risks associated with international trade transactions, such as compliance risks, financial risks, and supply chain risks, is complex and requires significant expertise.

• User (Regulatory/Compliance) Assistance:

Businesses need reliable and timely assistance to navigate trade regulations and compliance requirements effectively.