October 4, 1999

Document Trading Online

Bolero.net electronically trades shipping and financial documents

By Ramin P. Jaleshgari

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olero.net, an Internet international trading system that's designed to alleviate paper costs and establish legal standards, went online last week after five years of development.

Bolero.net is the brainchild of Bolero, a consortium of international banking and shipping logistics companies that was conceived in 1994. Bolero, which is jointly managed by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication and the Through Transport Club, was formed to examine the feasibility of electronically traded documents related to international shipping and financial transactions. Trading costs for transactions on paper amount to $420 billion a year, according to a joint study conducted by the World Trade Organization and the United Nations.

Martha Bennett, VP of research for Giga Information Group Europe, has watched Bolero.net's development for several years. "Using the Internet to facilitate trade transactions is powerful," she says. "It lacks the issues that traditional [electronic data interchange] implementations have, primarily that the same software has to be implemented by both parties."

Bolero.net also strives to address some of the legal issues associated with trading between two countries. The consortium enlisted more than 100 international legal experts to create a rule book of regulations and standards for the system, to help protect the interests of trading partners. Companies must agree to abide by the rule book to participate on Bolero.net. In addition, their countries must have laws in place regarding Internet transactions and international trade to support the rule book. Bolero reviews all potential members of Bolero.net.

Bolero.net uses document-management technology called IMR Coda that was developed by IT service provider IMRglobal Corp. More than 120 international companies and organizations, including Chevron Corp. and Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co., have used the system on a trial basis. Membership fees start at $2,000.

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