Dagang Net to implement UNeDocs format

Published by The Star

KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysian small- to medium-sized businesses, particularly importers and exporters, will have another avenue to extend their reach globally — through a PC-based web browser — when e-commerce provider Dagang Net Technologies adopts the UNeDocs standard. 

Dagang Net chief executive Saifol Shamlan said it is ready to implement UNeDocs (short for United Nations electronic trade documents), an internationally streamlined standard document format. 

He was speaking at the United Nations Workshop on International Standards to Stimulate Paperless Trade, in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. 

The format standardardises country, port, currency, measurement units and other codes for e-documents, which enable processing by computer, payments to be made through banks, and so on. 

These e-documents would also comply with national regulatory, legal, taxation and other requirements. 

To cater for users in countries where Internet access is limited or poor, there is an option to print out the documents.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that five billion trade documents are exchanged annually worldwide, while the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that paper trade document handling costs about US$1.5bi1 (RM5.54bi1) annually.

"The United States and Australia has reduced the number of data elements in their documents by 90%, by harmonising their formats and codes when they adopted UNeDocs," said Tom Butterly, who heads the UN's Section for Trade Facilitation.

According to World Bank estimates, users can save up to 15% in overall trading costs through the use of electronic documents instead of paper sheets.

Dagang Net, which operates the Customs Information System in this country, said the Government should offer financial incentives to encourage local companies to adopt UNeDocs.

For more details contact Dagang Net at (03) 2723-2723.
++++ www.unece.org/etrades/unedocs/ welcome.htm