FIATA & essDOCS Launch Electronic FIATA Bill

Valetta, Malta, 05 August 2014: FIATA & essDOCS announce the launch of the electronic FIATA Bill of Lading (eFBL), an entirely paperless, electronic version of the FIATA Bill of Lading powered by essDOCS’ core trade facilitation solution, CargoDocs™.

Developed through key inputs from FIATA Association Members, the solution is tailor-designed to specifically cater to the demands and needs of the freight forwarding industry, enabling FIATA members to completely digitize current paper processes involving FIATA Bills of Lading and supporting documentation.

“This is as close as you can get to plug-and-play in dealing with transport documents”, said Marco Sorgetti, Director General FIATA.

The eFBL aims to significantly improve trade documentation flow, in addition to reducing costs for relevant stakeholders by increasing speed, efficiency and visibility throughout the entire trade execution process.

It works via CargoDocs™, a simple, entirely web-based solution enabling electronic FIATA Bills of Lading (eFBLs) to be drafted online, before a FIATA member signs and issues them electronically. All actions are handled by the same parties that would handle paper FIATA Bills of Lading. Exporters can supplement the eFBL with supporting eDocs (commercial invoice, packing list and so forth), which are instantly transferred within essDOCS’ secure, online Exchange to Importers or their Banks, who treat the eFBL as the legal equivalent to paper FBLs under L/C transactions. The eFBL is then surrendered to the agent at destination electronically, eliminating any need to courier or hand-carry documents between parties.

Following several rounds of testing with FIATA Association members, the electronic FIATA Bill of Lading (eFBL) is now availaible to interested shippers & forwarders looking to implement paperless trading in their day-to-day operations.

“This is the natural evolution of our services, which are already well established in the commodities trade”, said Alex Goulandris, CEO essDOCS.

CargoDocs™ is easily accessible to FIATA Association Members, who following registration, simply login as users and access the solution using a bank-grade security token.

For more information please visit http://fiata.com/about-fiata/fiata-documents/digital-efbl.html or contact [email protected] and/or [email protected]