The International Grain Trade Coalition (IGTC) recently held a strategy session in London to discuss advocacy plans for its core Policy Teams and map out a way forward for its key working groups – including the recently-established IGTC eDocs Working Group.

The session was attended by numerous grain trade leaders from across the globe, including representatives from the world’s largest agri stakeholder groups and NGOs, as well as all the leading agri houses, with our very own Marisa McGuire Martin, VP Americas, representing essDOCS.

With eDocs now a top priority for agri stakeholders, attendees reinforced their commitment to investing all efforts in expanding the use of eDocs and electronic Bills of Lading across agri commodity trades globally.

Participants at the IGTC London event, held on 13 June at the Grand Connaught Rooms in central London

During the session, The Grain and Free Trade Association (GAFTA) notably emphasized that eDocs will play an important role in its work on contracts and arbitration, and the association will continue to work on this internally, with support from the IGTC. Throughout the course of the meeting, it was also agreed that GAFTA will now be added to the IGTC eDocs Working group.

The IGTC eDocs Working Group was established in 2016 with the aim of providing information and advice related to paperless trade in agri, as well as assist in the improvement of transparent, secure and cost-efficient paperless trade systems.

Key agenda items for the Working Group’s ongoing efforts include:

• Improving collaboration between all supply chain stakeholders to comprehensively address the massive global opportunity for paperless trade in agri
• Improving communication to raise industry and government awareness of eDocs, including the engagement of broader sets of participants such as Customs/Port authorities to further embrace eDocs
• Further refinement of messaging, targeted communication and work with the UN International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) regarding its deployment of an ePhyto Hub: a single-window system for the exchange of ePhyto certificates between National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs).