U.S. Customs Pilots Blockchain For Supply Chain As Private Sector Pilots Continue

On Tuesday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency announced that it would begin testing a blockchain solution to verify certificates of origin for goods coming into the country under the Central America-Dominican Republic and United States Free Trade Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement. The agency not only seeks to become an advocate for market adoption, but it also hopes to utilize blockchain technology to collect better data on the source of goods and import/export compliance. While acknowledging the challenge of standing up a blockchain with 47 partner countries, a CBP spokesperson indicated the agency is pressing forward with integrating blockchain into trade compliance. According to American Shipper, the official said, "Really what the government's trying to do is twofold: One is to help blockchain along in a healthy manner for increasing market adoption, and the other thing is we're trying to prepare ourselves in a proactive way to