From Paper to Paperless

The new technology will speed up delivery times and eliminate the human factor when issuing cargo at border crossing points.

Currently, to arrange shipping under the Electronic Consignment Note, a shipper must issue orders at the cargo dispatching point. Then, in compliance with Electronic Data-sharing Agreement signed between two railway administrations, i.e. departure and destination stations, the document is passed along the route.

At the end of August, the Intergovernmental Council of the Eurasian Economic Union approved a plan of priority measures for the digitalization of rail shipments. The document stipulates a phased transition to electronic data exchange between all agents in the transportation process and regulatory authorities. All the procedures for the digitalization of documents will be carried out by the railway administrations of the union. UTLC ERA interacts with the railway administrations of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan as an interested party for arranging shipments in the digital format in the 1520 gauge. The approved action plan gives us confidence that by the end of 2021 we will be able to deliver empty rolling stock from the border of Belarus and Poland to the Kazakh – Chinese checkpoints using only an electronic consignment note. The relevant agreements have already been signed. Two-way electronic dispatch tests have been conducted.

In December 2022, according to the Digitalization Agreement, we plan to organize experimental cargo shipments using integrated paperless technology between all agents in the transportation chain and regulatory authorities. From then, we will be able to register both the rolling stock and the cargo itself under the Electronic Consignment Note.

Upon introducing the technology on the 1520 gauge we see prospects for the replication of Electronic Consignment Notes on China – Europe – China routes. However, this depends largely on the Chinese and European customs authorities, which are still having trouble getting the paperless consignment note introduced.

It is worth noting that today the transition to Electronic Consignment Notes is being organized due to the needs of shippers as well because the digital document has several advantages compared to a hard copy. For example, when transferring a Paper Consignment Note at each border crossing, data input to digital is to be done manually. This procedure is time-consuming and is prone to human error. Moreover, digital document flow waives customs authorities control at border points. The system automatically verifies and approves the documents, which reduces redundant procedures at the border.