- IQAX has become the first company to implement the Digital Container Standards Association’s new electronic bill of lading (eBL) API v3.0 standard through the Global Shipping Business Network.
- Whilst technical standards are important, the real breakthrough will come from creating seamless systems.
- The convergence of harmonised trade data standards with emerging regulated stablecoins presents an opportunity to link cargo flows with financial flows.
Earlier this week, global trade technology company IQAX became the first in the world to have its electronic bill of lading (eBL) solution go live with the Digital Container Shipping Association (DSCA)’s new eBL API v3.0 schema over Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN). On the surface, this might seem like a solely technical milestone: but beneath lies a more intricate story that reflects the messy business of making standards work amid a generational shift in global trade.
Adopting standards is a long journey
Bringing DCSA’s eBL v3.0 to life was a 12-month journey of collaboration and coordination. First, a beta version was deployed in June 2024. This was followed by multiple rounds of feedback from carriers such as Hapag Lloyd’s operation teams, which culminated with the official launch in December 2024. It took another six months to complete all the development and pass conformance tests. The result is a live, scalable solution that reflects the collective effort of turning a global standard into something operational and ready for real-world impact.
DCSA’s work to unify the container shipping industry around a common application programming interface (API) is an important enabler to achieving the goal of 100% eBL adoption by 2030. But the reality of global trade is far from uniform, with many other standards still in development. Standards and data models from UN/CEFACT, FIATA, BIMCO and ISO are already in play, along with customs-specific data fields and modal variations across ocean, rail and road networks. The world does not move goods in neat, universal formats. It never has, and probably never will.
Malcom McLean’s real insight
In 1956, American entrepreneur Malcolm McLean launched the first container ship, the Ideal X. It sailed from Newark, New Jersey, to Houston, Texas, carrying 58 standardised metal containers.
As a result, many cite 1956 as the year the containerisation revolution was born, but the shipping container’s actual origins date back to the 1700s. What sparked the 1956 revolution was not the physical container itself, but how it was used to deliver value for the end customer. Malcolm McLean’s innovation became transformative only once a broader system emerged – standardised containers, specialised carrying vessels, container terminals, and integrated rail and truck networks to move those containers and goods inland. The breakthrough came when customers no longer needed to think about the different moving parts of the system. They had the room to only focus on their end goal – moving goods from point A to point B reliably and economically.
Similarly, with eBLs, the real breakthrough will not simply come from implementing various standards or APIs. Despite the name, a “standard” is not a solution, but rather an agreement between parties to communicate in the same language. And like all languages, it’s only impactful when it is widely used to drive business value. What we should learn from Malcom McLean is to free customers from having to care about how trade data is shared. Ask any shipper what they really want. They certainly do not have blockchain, standards or MLETR in mind. What they really care about is being able to conduct their business easily, reliably and cheaply. This applies to moving goods internationally, making cross-border payments and securing trade finance.
The case for a data adapter
In this regard, there is an urgent need for a “data adapter”. This is why at GSBN we are focusing on creating an adapter that gives users, regardless of their role in global trade, the space to not deal with the complexity of various standards, data regulations and reliability tests.
The most important element here is ensuring that the same data elements present in eBL and other important trade documents can be used and reused with proper consent mechanisms and traceability. GSBN has been closely collaborating with the International Chamber of Commerce’s Digital Standards Initiative (ICC DSI). One of the most promising efforts is the ICC DSI’s Key Trade Documents and Data Elements (KTDDE) framework, which looks to harmonise data across 36 core trade documents. The most recent development worth keeping an eye on is the KTDDE Interoperability Guidelines (KIG), which seek to operationalise the previous work of ICC DSI.
Harmonised trade data can be harnessed not just by carriers, but also by corporations and financial institutions alike. Given each eBL is associated with a given shipment, it can serve as a link between all the documents and harmonised data related to a shipment in the form of a “data container”.
Linking trade flows with financial flows
This is where things start to fall into place. The most exciting recent development is the wave of legislation globally making regulated stablecoins a reality.
Hong Kong passed its stablecoin ordinance in May, followed shortly by the US GENIUS Act, while the First Abu Dhabi Bank is set to launch a stablecoin. Only this week, comments from the Governor of the People’s Bank of China at the 2025 Lujiazui Forum also recognised the value of stablecoins. At stake is a new form of faster, cheaper cross-border payments that could be linked to eBLs to create a new value proposition for corporations: the fast, reliable and cheap transfer of value and cargo.
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With over 550,000 eBLs already issued over GSBN to date, the initial network effects are evidently taking hold. But this isn’t just about replacing paper. It’s about powering the next generation of digital trade finance, built on trusted, structured trade data. And that’s something worth watching.
