The Electronic Trade Documents Bill, set to be introduced imminently will mean paperless trading for hundreds of UK businesses that buy and sell internationally.  The legislation for international trade documents to be physically owned and transferred from person to person will come to an end when the Bill is introduced.

International Trade In The UnitedKingdom

The United Kingdom (UK) is one of the worlds largest importers and exporters, with foreign trade representing 55.5% of GDP in 2020 (affected greatly by the global Covid-19 pandemic) and currently worth more than £1.4 trillion.

The UK's biggest trading partners include the United States, Germany, France and the Netherlands, where goods such as vehicles, pharmaceuticals, precious metals and machinery are both imported and exported.

International Trade Documentation

International trade and Brexit means a lot of documentation for UK businesses!  Keeping thorough and accurate paperwork is vital to avoid problems and to keep operations running smoothly. 

Common types of international trade documentation include certificates of origin, packing lists, invoices, export licences, insurance, dangerous goods paperwork, shipping notes, bill of lading or a waybill, letters of credit, CIM consignment notes....the list is pretty endless!

Processing and storing this volume of important paperwork requires stringent rulesand polices to be in place that must be adhered to by all employees.  It iscostly, inefficient and time consuming. 

What Is Paperless Trade?

Paperless trade means businesses areno longer bound by physical pieces of paper and can trade using electronic documents and communications.  When passed, the Bill does allow companies to carry on using paper and existing processes if they wish, but those choosing to move away frompaper based processeswill find it easier to buy and sell around the world.  Not only that, but the speed of transactions will significantly increase while administration costs will be drastically cut.

It is estimated that 28.5 billion paper trade documents are printed and flown around the world on a daily basis!!!

Digital documentation will become legally recognised enabling organisations to implementdocument management softwareand digitally organise, categorise and securely store all documentation.

Contract andinvoice processingtimes can be reduced from weeks to days with a digital system, promoting growth while substantially reducing thecarbon footprintof businesses.

It is estimated by The International Chamber of Commerce thatSME's could see a 13% increase in international business with paperless trading.  

Implementing Paperless Trading

Moving to a paperless trading system is never going to happen overnight.  It requirescareful planning, process mapping and consultationwith all those involved.  The benefits however will far out way any upfront work required and businesses will continue to see aReturn On Investmentyear after year.

Save Time

On top of the monetary and environmental savings already mentioned, the time employees get back is where businesses will see the first real effects of paperless trading.

Paper administration, manual checks, rekeying information and searching for the required information trapped on paper takes employees longer than it should. 

"We have seen a 50% reduction in time that was previously wasted on finding documents, processing, manually filing and printing."

Technology Director, Muir Housing Group

By removing paper in favour of aDocument Management System and automateddocumentworkflows, information can flow seamlessly through the business.

Accurate Data Capture