IBM Indonesia has revealed that the Indonesian Directorate General of Customs and Excise has commenced using the blockchain-based shipping platform, TradeLens. The news follows several months of platform implementations, with the Indonesia Customs and Excise Department announcing that it would join the TradeLens consortium late last year. The announcement has seen Indonesia’s customs department become the 11th government agency to join the TradeLens consortium - of which other members include the customs authorities of Thailand, Azerbaijan, and Canada, among others. Tan Wijaya, the president director of IMB Indonesia, expressed his expectation that the partnership with Indonesia’s customs depart will “benefit …

IBM Food Trust blockchain platform has onboarded one more French manufacturer seeking to enhance transparency of product provenance and supply chain. The Avril Group, a vegetable oil, eggs and protein manufacturer, and the owner of brands Matines and Lesieur, has begun using IBM Food Trust network to ensure traceability of its products, according to a Feb. 4 press release. Improving corporate social responsibility and customer experience By applying blockchain, the Avril Group expects to make improvements in its corporate social responsibility, especially when it comes to sectors such as quality livestock and the consideration of animal welfare. Matines is looking …

The Australian government is going to launch its national blockchain strategy on Friday, Feb. 7, following a nearly year-long preparation. It has been almost a year since the country’s Ministry for Industry, Science and Technology and Ministry for Trade, Tourism and Investment announced the national blockchain strategy and roadmap last March. The new policy roadmap aims to make Australia’s nascent blockchain industry into a global leader, making the country’s wine industry, banking and finance the key priority sectors. Special focus on domestic wine Outlining the program’s development, Karen Andrews, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, said that the five-year blockchain …

Covantis, a blockchain initiative backed by global agribusiness giants like Cargill, has selected major Ethereum-focused firm ConsenSys as a technology partner. Within the partnership, ConsenSys will build an Ethereum-based blockchain platform to digitize the post-trade finance industry and bring efficiencies and cost savings to the international agribusiness supply chain, Covantis said in a Jan. 23 press release. Four agribusiness giants established the initiative in 2018, while Covantis’ name came out months ago The concept of Covantis was established in October 2018, when four of the biggest global agribusinesses companies announced a joint initiative to digitize their global shipping transactions using …

At the Crypto Valley Summit during the World Economic Forum in Davos, ecological sustainability for the future is one of the primary talking points. Even though blockchain is on the fringes of global discussion, several experts see its usage in traceability as one of the key technologies for improving sustainability. Industry’s current applications Supply chain blockchain solutions allow tracking of the entire production chain of certain products. Their usage ensures that consumers and companies always know where a particular product or material comes from. This helps prevent counterfeiting, an issue that is hard to detect given the complexity of global …

AB InBev, the company behind the Budweiser brand, is helping local African farmers to prove their income using blockchain, Yahoo Finance reports on Jan. 21. A blockchain-based system developed in partnership with BanQu tracks all the local suppliers of AB InBev, replacing the paper trail. AB InBev is a multinational conglomerate born out of the merger of several established beer producers. It includes Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona as some of its most recognizable brands. The company has adopted a strategy of using local suppliers, receiving tax breaks for their added contribution to the country’s economy. However, this proved to …

CHO, one of the largest olive oil producers in the southern Mediterranean, announced on Jan. 14 that it is using IBM’s blockchain technology to provide traceability for its Terra Delyssa extra virgin olive oil. The company is the latest major food provider to join IBM’S Food Trust Network. Utilizing blockchain allows CHO to track Terra Delyssa across eight quality assurance checkpoints, including the orchard where the olives were grown, the mill where olives were crushed, and the facilities where the oil was filtered, bottled and distributed. Vice president of IBM Blockchain Supply Chain Solutions Ramesh Gopinath told Cointelegraph that using …

The IBM Sterling supply chain platform will now feature additional integrations developed by Salesforce, Publicis Sapient, IBM Services and others, a Jan. 13 press release reads. The additions will allow the blockchain and AI-based suite to quickly solve returns and cross-channel logistics challenges. IBM Services and Bluewolf are jointly developing a connector service to join IBM Sterling with Salesforce Commerce, Service and Marketing Clouds. The integration would help retailers to blend the offline and online shopping experience. The platform’s aim is to reduce shopping frictions through a better organization for retailers, primarily by optimizing front and back-office connectivity and product …

Toronto-based startup Convergence.tech has successfully concluded a blockchain-based pilot to help Mongolian nomadic herders track and certify sustainable cashmere. The supply chain project, which was conducted with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), is powered by Convergence.tech’s Ethereum-based traceability platform, Backbone. Convergence.tech chose to focus on cashmere herders for its pilot, as many of these individuals face harsh working conditions and income instability. Moreover, the fashion supply chain lacks transparency, making it difficult for consumers to understand where cashmere products originate. Convergence.tech CEO, Chami Akmeemana, told betakit: “The nomadic community is one of immense pride but one with a volatile …

On Jan. 8 the Times of Oman reported that the Port of Salalah joined TradeLens, the blockchain-based supply chain platform launched in 2018 by shipping giant Maersk and IBM. An IBM spokesperson told Cointelegraph the addition of the Port of Salalah puts TradeLens at more than 90 ports and terminals, with over 150 participants in total on the platform. According to the Times, The Port of Salalah is Oman’s largest port, handling a record number of 4 million shipping containers per year. The port reportedly joins TradeLens as part of its digital initiative to enhance customer experience while ensuring a …

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) is planning to release guidance on blockchain for companies looking to deploy the technology. As The Wall Street Journal reported on Dec. 27, COSO — an initiative to fight corporate fraud — is working on guidance on blockchain to give a better understanding of the tech for businesses that aim to integrate it into their internal processes. COSO expects to release the guidance in the first quarter of 2020. To improve supply chains Specifically, the guidance targets executives in financial services and businesses that use blockchain to improve their supply …

New Zealand’s ASB Bank, owned by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, has participated in a new $1.7 million funding round by blockchain startup TradeWindow. The startup provides a software-as-a-service supply chain solution to create a “single trading window” accessible by all parties involved in the transaction from the importer to the exporter. ASB Bank is now the second-biggest shareholder after TradeWindow CEO, owns 21% Following the seed round, ASB Bank now owns a 21% stake in the company and is the second-largest shareholder after TradeWindow’s founder and CEO AJ Smith, The New Zealand Herald reports Dec. 16. According to an announcement …