CSCB Report
A Low-Cost, High-Value Alternative for Electronic Commerce
Revenue Canada has decided to start charging for access to its Customs Automated Data Exchange (CADEX) lines, the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system used to automate customs clearances. That decision will have a major impact on your business – whether you are an importer, a customs broker, or anyone involved in facilitating international trade.
Look at it this way. The telephone, like EDI, is a wonderful invention. You can pick up the phone at your end, and connect instantly with millions of people all over the world. That is a convenience we are all willing to pay for. But would you be willing to pay for the phone if the only person you could call was your brother-in-law? And if each time you called, your brother-in-law sent you a hefty bill for the privilege?
For many companies, the situation with CADEX is similar – except in this case, the brother-in-law is Revenue Canada and you don’t have the option of just not calling. If your business involves any significant number of customs transactions, you must do those transactions electronically to stay competitive.
Of course, EDI can have many benefits beyond the customs clearance process. But traditional EDI technology, based on Value Added Networks (VANs), is expensive - and the benefits of EDI outside of CADEX have proven elusive to many companies. Analysts suggest that only one percent of North American businesses have implemented traditional EDI - so you can spend a bundle getting your business EDI-ready, only to find that none of your business partners are online.
Except, of course, Revenue Canada. This was fine when access to CADEX was free. Now, without a cost-effective alternative to traditional EDI networks, Revenue Canada’s decision means that you may incur substantial costs where the only net beneficiary is the government.
Fortunately, there is a cost-effective alternative: the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers Electronic Gateway (CSCB E-Gateway), an Internet-based solution for electronic commerce developed by the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers and AT&T Canada.
With the CSCB E-Gateway, anyone can do business electronically with Revenue Canada at a fraction of the costs involved with traditional EDI systems. But the Gateway is much more than an alternative to expensive CADEX lines.
It is Internet-based. That means you have access not just to the one percent of businesses who use traditional EDI, but the millions of companies around the world who are linked by the Internet. A recent Computer Economics survey found that 37 percent of businesses in all industry sectors already do business on the Internet. Another 47 percent are getting ready to do so. That means the CSCB E-Gateway will give you access to an electronic commerce community that includes almost 85 percent of the business world.
It is quick and easy to set up. Think of any company you do business with, anywhere. If they have a Windows PC and a modem, they can be online doing EDI with you in a matter of days. Any standard Internet connection will do the job.
The up-front investment is minimal, and ongoing costs of using the system are a fraction of the costs involved with traditional VANs. Users of Internet-based electronic commerce systems have reported savings as high as 400 percent on messaging costs alone.
Transaction messages can be delivered electronically and confirmed in a matter of minutes – instead of the hours or even days associated with traditional systems.
It’s secure. Messaging is based on the ViaSafe technology already used by financial institutions to exchange data with government. This past May, the federal Canadian Security Establishment (CSE) announced that it had thoroughly tested and approved ViaSafe for secure transactions – making it one of the first products of its kind endorsed by the CSE.
It’s extremely flexible. In addition to standard EDI formats, a wide range of electronic messaging standards can be defined and exchanged easily with your partners – making the CSCB E-Gateway the ideal platform for electronic commerce.
Perhaps most important, the Gateway is a truly integrative business solution. The real benefits of EDI have always depended on your ability to integrate electronic transaction processing with your business processes, and those of your business partners. The real drawback of traditional EDI has been the difficulty involved in achieving that kind of integration. But with the Gateway, electronic commerce links seamlessly with legacy EDI software, as well as your other business applications such as database and accounting software. And because it is Internet-based, it can link your business seamlessly with your business partners’ processes.
The Internet is fast becoming the de facto standard for doing any business electronically. In 1995, the total value of electronic commerce transactions on the Internet reached just $70 million. Next year, it is expected to exceed $250 billion. Internet is simply where you need to go to do business. And the CSCB E-Gateway is one of the easiest, low-cost, secure routes to get there.