The potential of blockchain in customs
Nowadays, the importance of our data is crucial, between security and confidentiality, our data have a priceless value. To those problems, the technology of “blockchain” try to provide a solution. Secutiry, immutability, traceability and automation, those are the words being used to talk about the blockchain. It can apply to sectors where exchanging information is highly important, such as logistics and customs.
What is the blockchain ?
A blockchain quickly secure and transfer all kind of data. It reliably saves any change instantaneousely using cryptography. It resists any modification of data because once it is saved, it can’t be changed retroactively without damaging the following blocks. Once the information is inside a blockchain, it remains here forever and cannot be modified or changed except for completing it with more relevant information. Governance is decentralized, but there is nonetheless a ruler functionality deciding on the rules, which is often embodied by goverment institutions.
Possibilities of using blockchain in customs
This technology can be applied in customs to an extent that parties involved in customs procedures must exchange information in an instant and secured way. This system is more of a distributed system rather than a centralized system, every participants have access to all the information of a same register, it creates trust between parties that don’t always know each other by ensuring the integrity of their data. Fraud can more easily be detected because all the transactions must be checked and approved by all the parties involved. The use of blockchain also enables better compliance, in fact, the full chronology of all the events is recorded, therefore, customs’s analysis and risks targeting capacity are significantly improved, thus, facilitating trade. Let’s take a practical example, with that of the customs declaration.
Customs declaration is not always an easy task to do. It is sometimes difficult to gather, often manually, all the required information from multiple documents and several parties. Blockchain can collect in a common register, from the order of origin until transporation of products, all the necessary information. It is very advantageous for every parties because the workload to validate a customs declaration is reduced as well as the delivery time of products from beginning to end.
