At their event, ‘Re-imagining the future of trade,’ ICC UK unveiled their roadmap to digitalise UK trade. The document provides a framework for businesses and the government, from where to start to allocating responsibilities.
The strategy, unveiled at the event, includes a commitment to ensuring that more than half of global trade will be governed by laws recognising electronic trade documents by the end of 2025.
Five critical priorities signal a radical departure from traditional trade practices: these include tackling trade frictions, promoting legal integrity, enabling climate action, accelerating digital transformation, and enhancing multilateral cooperation.
The UK’s 2023 Electronic Trade Documents Act (ETDA) made it the first G7 country to remove legal barriers to trade digitalisation; the roadmap highlights how a better advantage could be taken of this position. In this, it invites the government to support the ICC/C4DTI-Barclays-DBT Trade Digitalisation Taskforce in establishing a regulatory sandbox environment.
Jaya Vohra, Barclays Co-Chair of the Trade Digitalisation Taskforce, said, “Trade involves both the public and private sector, so collaboration across industry and with governments is the most effective way to make progress.
“The Trade Digitalisation Taskforce is an excellent example of such a forum in action. It brings together international institutions, government, and industry associations to solve practical problems such as promoting smart regulatory frameworks, preventing fraud, digitalising trade and streamlining Know Your Customer (KYC) processes.”
Additionally, the Commonwealth Working Group on Legal Reform and Digitalisation is the largest implementation programme within the Commonwealth and the only example of delivering at speed and scale across a bloc—with 56 countries collaborating to develop tailored roadmaps. In this context, the UK roadmap is an important lynchpin in a much wider ecosystem, placed as a template for others.
Vashti Maharaj, Adviser, Digital Trade Policy for the Commonwealth, said, “The diverse Commonwealth network of 56 countries comprises 33 out of the world’s 42 small states, of which 25 are small island developing states (SIDS), as well as 12 least developed countries (LDCs). How do we bring everybody up to speed, and how do we ensure people can increase their capabilities?
“Our Commonwealth Working Group on Legal Reform and Digitalisation aims to create a common basis, not just for legal reform but also for common understanding, within which countries can pursue digital transformation based on their own needs.”
Key initiatives proposed include a fully digitalised case management system for international arbitration by early 2025, the establishment of a hearing centre in Paris, and the development of innovative “ICC EcoTerms” to facilitate environmental trade.
The roadmap also addresses the needs of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), promising increased support and tools. Enabling smaller businesses to create trade documents that are compatible with the ecosystem would allow people to automate processes, authenticate documents and companies, and thereby speed processing times.
Finally, the roadmap pledges to drive policy reforms that remove barriers to climate and sustainability solutions while simultaneously pushing for reforms to the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement mechanisms.
By prioritising interoperable data standards and digital trade corridors, the future of trade will likely only grow more agile, sustainable, and resilient.
