The Customs Department of Thailand will use the logistics blockchain platform TradeLens jointly developed by IBM and Maersk to streamline procedures and to track shipments in real time.
The department is working with IBM Thailand Co. and shipping and logistics giant Maersk on adopting the blockchain-based shipment-tracking and information-sharing platform, local media reported August 28.
The initiative is being undertaken to modernize trade and support Thailand 4.0 Policy, the department said.
According to Patama Chantaruck, vice president for Indochina expansion and managing director of IBM Thailand, TradeLens will provide Thai Customs with “an automatic and immutable tracking tool, which will lead to a more secure, transparent, efficient and simpler workflow, with near real-time information sharing from a diverse network of ecosystem members.”
TradeLens, which enables efficient and accurate container tracking and information sharing among platform members, will let customs authorities receive shipping data as soon as containers leave the port of origin, giving officials more time to prepare to receive shipments and enabling more efficient and thorough inspections for fraud and forgery.
Meanwhile, Chuchai Udompote, principal adviser on the development of the Customs Incentive System for the Customs Department, said the agency has worked with IBM on TradeLens since last October.
The platform will let the department and related groups access real-time information, expediting processes and cutting costs. Moreover, TradeLens will create greater transparency and customer satisfaction and align with the country’s efforts to promote trading and economic stability by facilitating ease of doing business.
The platform will be implemented at Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri first and later at Bangkok port.
More than US$16 trillion worth of goods are shipped across international borders each year, with some 80% transported by the ocean shipping industry.
In August last year, Maersk and IBM announced the creation of TradeLens, jointly developed by the two companies to apply blockchain to the world’s global supply chain.
