Kale Logistics Solutions partners with Trade-Van for eCoOs

Signing of the MoU between Mr. Vineet Malhotra (Kale Logistics Solutions) and Mr. Alan Hiu (Trade Van Information Services) L-R

Certificate of Origin (CoO) is among the most critical documents in the logistics industry. In international trade transactions, tariff of a product and other trade measures will be applied based on CoO. Also, it is essential to say if the product is legally allowed to be imported.

According to the agreement, both stakeholders will establish an appropriate and effective cooperative framework for the facilitation of the eCoO project. Most notably, they both agree to exchange cross-border eCoO to facilitate the customs clearance process.
Validation is the most essential factor. The given document must be equal to the existing physical document to facilitate customs clearance. The agreement signed between the two entities is equal to paper CoO and still acceptable as a common supporting document for customs clearance.

eCoO is to be securely transmitted through Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) protection, which facilitates secure electronic transfer of information. PKI comes with a certificate authority to store, issue and sign a digital certificate. To ensure credibility of the entities requesting a digital certificate, PKI mechanism has a Registration Authority and a central directory to securely locate and index keys.

Speaking on the development, Vineet Malhotra, Director, Kale Logistics Solutions said, “We are delighted to partner with Trade-Van to facilitate digital issuance of Certificate of Origin. In an industry, which is dominated by physical paperwork, this is a milestone achieved in order to digitize the Logistics world. With the vast experience of Trade-Van and the technical finesse of Kale Logistics, we believe this partnership will let us achieve new synergies going ahead.”

He further added, “Going ahead, we will also foresee the use of Blockchain technology in delivering eCoO. Blockchain technology can speed up the customs process by tracing the origin of goods or produce without almost any chance of tariff-avoiding forgery.”

Both Kale Logistics Solutions and Trade-Van are members of PAA.