PURPOSE: To inform the TPT WG of progress made to date with the EDI Commercial Messages project.

BACKGROUND

The Australian Government's Maritime Transport Group, Department of Workplace Relations and Small Business, and Tradegate ECA have been jointly funding this project under the auspices of the APEC TPT WG. The project is managed by Tradegate ECA.

The primary aim of the project has been to identify, through pilot projects, the processes and preparation required to enable businesses involved in international trade and transport to trial and use harmonised EDIFACT messages in the trading chain between organisations in the APEC economies.

Progress to date by the companies that have participated in the project is given below:

Cadbury Schweppes

Cadbury Schweppes in Australia and its sister company in Singapore are working towards the removal of paper documents and their replacement with EDI air freight messages that conform to the relevant EDIFACT implementation guidelines. The air freight forwarder in Australia is Specific Freight at Tullamarine airport and the Singaporean freight forwarder is Skylift Consolidator.

The Shipper's Letter of Instruction and Invoice EDI messages have been successfully tested between Cadbury Schweppes in Melbourne and Specific Freight. The next step required is the exchange of EDI messages between the freight forwarder in Australia (Specific Freight) and the freight forwarder in Singapore (Skylift). It is intended that this will be followed by the Cadbury to Cadbury movement of Despatch Advice and Invoice data.

Cadbury Schweppes has suspended work on this project for about six months while its information technology staff focus on the year 2000 computer bug.

Murray Goulburn Co-operative

The project work involves trade between Murray Goulburn (an Australian exporter of dairy products) and its customers in Asia, particularly in Malaysia and Singapore.

Initially, the project has been concentrating on the movement of local data. Preparatory work for the exchange of EDI messages between Murray Goulburn, its container terminal operator and sea carrier, and Australian Government authorities (Customs and Quarantine) is being undertaken. The company is seeking to establish and trial its EDI links to Customs and Quarantine authorities in Australia through a single communications channel (known as "single window to government" system), before proceeding further with the project.

BHP Transport

This project involves developing a system for the electronic exchange of ship's manifest data between BHP Transport's agents in West Coast USA ports and BHP's shipping agent in Australia (McArthur Shipping).

BHP's West Coast USA agents are not yet in a position to undertake the required preparatory work to enable them to commence the trialing of electronic messages. Further work on this project will depend on the relative priority accorded to the project by the parties involved.

COMMENTS

Progress with the project to date indicates that the adoption of EDI by commercial companies will only proceed at the pace that fits in with the priorities of the trading partners concerned. While this is generally slower than had previously been anticipated, there is little doubt that on a worldwide basis there is a steady increase in the take up of electronic commerce, including EDIFACT messages. Accordingly, it is in the interests of the transport sectors in the APEC region for the TPT WG member economies to continue their efforts to facilitate and encourage the wider take up of electronic commerce.

The lessons from this project have been taken into account in the new electronic commerce project (involving APEC funding) being submitted for final approval by Australia at TPT WG 13. In this regard, Phase 1 of the project has been designed to focus entirely on the education and awareness aspects of electronic commerce. This is seen as an area in which the cooperative efforts of the APEC TPT WG can make a significant contribution to assisting in measures to facilitate the take up of electronic commerce by commercial firms.

Any unfinished aspects of the current limited EDI message trialing project could be rolled into the proposed new and expanded project.

Contact:

Mr Barry Keogh
Tradegate ECA
2nd Floor, The Tea House
28 Clarendon Road
SOUTH MELBOURNE   VIC  3205
AUSTRALIA
Tel:  +61 3 9645 9566
Fax:  +61 3 9645 9599
EMail: talbar@mail.att.net

This page was last updated on 10 Aug, 2006