The cross-border e-CMR solution will significantly ease the exchange of cargo information between countries and benefit the transit speed.
Challenge
The international transport and logistics industry still relies on paper documentation for cargo checking. It drastically slows the transportation of goods, creating multiple hour-long delays that cut into drivers’ allowed daily driving time. Thus, a digital solution that provides easy and convenient online access to cargo information on an international scale is greatly needed.
Cross-border solution for an effortless exchange of electronic cargo documentation
Alongside partners and stakeholders both from the private and public sectors, LMT was actively involved in the international DigInno pilot project as representatives of Latvia. The pilot project, which was completed in the Q3 of 2020, created state cargo documentation databases and tested their cross-border connection within the participating countries. The state databases were able to request documentation from other country databases and send it via the cloud, thereby eliminating manual documentation checking.
Since the end of the project, the participating countries – Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland – are actively working on implementing the use of cargo documentation databases locally to move forward with using the tested cross-border e-CMR (electronic consignment notes) solution.
The cross-border e-CMR solution will significantly ease the data exchange between countries’ border control, police, and other involved institutions, thus, reducing the manual stop-and-check of transit. It will also increase transit speed by easing many processes to involved parties – consignors, suppliers, and consignees – benefit trade, export growth, and, eventually, local economies. Additionally, the e-CMR solution can also be used by logistics companies of all sizes to ease the exchange of information and speed up logistics operations in the private transit sector.
LMT believes the result of this project is the beginning of a joint journey for all involved countries towards a clear document-sharing standard. Moreover, the DigInno pilot project has been a great example of how private and public sectors can collaborate for a common goal.
Alongside LMT, the pilot project participants from Latvia were the Latvia State Radio and Television Centre, Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association, the Ministry of Transport of Latvia, State Revenue Service, Freeport of Riga, Road Transport Administration, logistics companies, and other representatives of both private and public sector.
The DigInno pilot project was supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers.