The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has launched a tool designed to help banks and trade finance users assess the reliability of platforms providing digital trade documents.

Last year’s UK Electronic Trade Documents Act, and the UN model law that informed it, require the use of an undefined “reliable system” for handling electronic versions of typically paper trade documents, prompting industry efforts to define the term.

After circulating a draft self-assessment tool to digital platforms earlier this year to gather industry feedback, the ICC’s Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) and Canada’s Digital Governance Council have now finalised the assessment, which consists of a lengthy questionnaire.

The questionnaire “allows for service providers to assert their reliability through a commonly accepted market standard” as more countries adopt the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR), the organisations say.

They hope the tool “could eventually become a credential”, with plans afoot to create a certification process with third-party validation.

In the meantime, after platforms complete the assessment, they can seek a “statement of verification”, which “can be used to showcase conformity and build trust with potential clients”.

While the assessment is not an “endorsement”, the ICC and Digital Governance Council say it will help potential platform users select their preferred vendor. Users of the platforms include trade finance providers, logistics companies, as well as importers and exporters.

DSI head Pamela Mar said that around half of the participants of the pilot, launched in April, provided feedback. While there was discussion of including elements such as business processes and interoperability, it was ultimately decided to focus on reliability.

The tool centres on the security and resilience of the platforms, including how they store and protect data. Mar says it will help the IT teams of potential platform users understand MLETR.

“The reliability assessment framework is a collective effort drawing on the knowledge and work of technical and commercial experts from various entities involved in digital trust, standards, certifications and assessment,” Mar says in a separate statement.

“This launch is an important first step in the development of a framework for ensuring digital trust at scale, an important pillar of the digital trade ecosystem.”

Keith Jansa, Digital Governance Council CEO, says: “This is a major step towards international standardisation and formal recognition of digital service providers enabling the global digital trade and we look forward to continuing the work with ICC and the electronic transferable record community.”

The UK government, like MLETR, has not defined what constitutes a “reliable system”, leaving doubts over how judges will adjudicate reliability when a dispute concerning a document issued under the law makes its way to court.

The French government, however, is expected to issue separate guidance on its own electronic trade documents sometime this year, including on the definition of reliability.