News / No trade barriers for forwarders as GeTS revolutionises cross-border customs

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Global eTrade Services (GeTS) claims to have launched the world’s first international single-window trade platform.

A subsidiary of Singapore-based eGovernment specialist CrimsonLogic, GeTS is “a global trade platform that enables customers to transform and manage their trade documents and data so they can fulfil trade compliance across multiple countries in very efficient way”, according to GeTS chief executive Chong Kok Keong.

He added: “In the past, forwarders would have to engage different systems in different countries to fulfil their requirements, but with GeTS they only need to engage one.”

As a result, he said, forwarders can cut the time it takes to manage trade compliance by more than half.

This is achieved partly by reducing phone and email use, since GeTS provides the same visibility of a particular trade to all participants and everyone is updated at simultaneously on a real-time basis.

“No one needs to ask questions about submitting documents, and that actually promotes partnerships,” said Mr Chong. “Because of the very tight, niche freight forwarding community in ASEAN countries, a platform like GeTS will really enhance their ability to collaborate in a more efficient manner.”

Yigit Saricinar, general manager of airfreight at PT Schenker Petrolog Utama, said: “GeTS enables us to speed up the customs declaration process by expediting the electronic transmission of shipment data required for customs declaration into Indonesia Customs, saving time and manpower.”

The software-as-a-service (SaaS) product uses natural language programming and machine learning, said Mr Chong, adding that he wants to change the way trade compliance is done around the world by making cross-border transactions more accessible, predictable and easier.

“The key value-add is the accessibility the platform provides to our users, as they have access to multiple customs requirements.

“Second is predictability, because of the ability of GeTS to help them manage and transform data and documents between message senders and between systems interfaces, it helps them have greater predictability over how the data will be used.

“The third value proposition is ease of use, because the easier it is for them to interact with government bodies or other business partners in this value chain then the easier it is to start trading across borders on a much larger scale,” he said.

GeTS could also potentially help forwarders avoid fines from wrongful submissions, since the platform ensures accuracy.

“It will also help them to take care of post-declarations or post-process audits, which are becoming more and more important and more widely practised in different regions,” added Mr Chong.

GeTS is available in 16 custom nodes, with 60% of users based in North America. The primary tradelane is North America-ASEAN, followed by intra-ASEAN, China-ASEAN, and China-North America.

The platform is currently free to use, although eventually forwarders will be charged per-transaction.