For over 100 years, the three-legged stool of shipment information — the who, what and where — determined admissibility. Who shipped and received the goods? What is in the package? Where did the package come from, and where is it going? A “single truth” of data provided the shipment’s life cycle.
Recently, this approach has wobbled under the weight of security and safety threats and now social compliance. A new risk leg has been added: the “how.” How was the good extracted, labored and “friend-shored?” Answering the “how” and arriving at a “single truth” of shipment data has been difficult.
Governments in their vital pursuit of facilitating lawful trade are facing challenges finding “single truth” data that prevents the importation of infringing goods. Shippers pursuing good corporate practices are managing new regulations that require 100% compliance based on opaque guidance and inexact data standards. The task of getting to this “single truth” of data and answering the “how” is suffocating the relationship and cooperation between governments and the trade community.
This new challenge has created data-driven decision making with never-before-seen levels of importance for collecting and analyzing data. While acting on business intelligence is essential for understanding the “how,” the trade community is spending far too much time collecting and presenting data for government compliance, often debating what is the right evidence or “single truth.” How is the trade community able to arrive at a “single truth” of data without guidance from the government?
The government should provide clear guidance on what is needed to prove that a trader’s good does not violate laws. Instead of traders debating which of many competing data sources should be used for aiding a government’s decision, everyone can use the same unified source for all compliance guidance. The advantages include easier prevention of mistaken inconsistencies, harmonization across the various ports and a greatly simplified detention consideration process. This would ensure that all actors arrive at a “single truth,” thus advancing trade facilitation and economic growth.