4 billion paper documents circulate in trade around the globe daily, in order to get the goods to their destinations.
Why paper and PDF bills of lading just don’t cut it
The bill of lading is perhaps the most important commercial document in the entire shipping and freight chain. It has three main functions: it serves as evidence of the contract of carriage, acts as a receipt of goods, and functions as the document of title to the goods. Yet, it is still usually issued as a physical paper document signed and stamped by the carrier, or as PDF files. In 2025. Really?
Let’s face it: both paper and PDF bills of lading come with serious drawbacks. Paper handling and courier dispatch create time lags and bottlenecks in the logistics process, while manual entry and data handling increase the risk of errors, inefficiency, and increase costs. The paper-based process also has inherent security and fraud risks, and contributes significantly to CO2 emissions from document handling.
PDFs, while seemingly convenient, are often not legally recognised under current regulations, as verifiers need to see the original document. Additionally, PDFs can be easily altered without an audit trail, further exposing businesses to fraud risks.
Accessible and interoperable
trace:original bills of lading are created as PDF documents and readable by anyone that can read normal PDFs. However, each document also contains structured data in JSON format, that enables any system to parse the document, even without connecting to API:s. This enables an automated process that is both efficient and robust, while retaining the possibility for manual verification.
trace:original bills of lading can be freely sent in seconds, received, and managed by everyone in the trade process and it can be used within, between or outside of trade platforms. Only the issuer of the bill of lading needs to be a customer of Enigio and after issuance it is free to use forever.
Safe and secure
Traceability – Contains full audit trail of events within the document
Data ownership - no business or personal data shared or stored outside of the trace:original bill of lading document.
Transparency – process visibility throughout the transaction cycle.
Storage – digitally stored by the owner and digital back-ups possible
Protection – only the one in possession has the right to add new content, transfer possession or invalidate, no-one can manipulate what has been written.
Authenticity – Document authenticity can be verified by anyone at any time
Evidence – Current or older version of document verifiable via its evidence stored on the block chain (Public Notary)
Legal framework
MLETR: A law that accepts a digital bill of lading
An electronic transferable record is defined as information generated, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means, including, where appropriate, all information logically associated with or otherwise linked together so as to become part of the record.
An electronic transferable record ‘shall not be denied legal effect, validity or enforceability on the sole ground that it is in electronic form’.
Therefore, to maintain its legal enforceability, a digital document must replicate the properties of the paper equivalent regarding:
- its nature as an original
- its function relative to a holder (i.e., the party that has ‘possession’ of the original document)
- its transferability
trace:original bill of lading process
trace:original digital bills of lading can be used as a drop-in replacement for paper without the need for process change. The only difference is that the BL stays digital and is sent and received as a digital document.
Other documents, such as invoices, export declarations and certificates of origin can be attached digitally and sent along with a trace:original digital bill of lading as well, just like with paper documents.
With trace:original you can maintain a completely digital process, letting you ship goods, not documents.

Bills of lading and trace:orignal – a perfect combination
Accessible and interoperable
Computer and internet only requirement
Digitally interoperable between anyone and any system
Readable by man and machine
Can contain a standard and/or a schema
Enables straight through processing (STP)
Safe and
Secure
Tamper proof and fraud safe
No sharing of business or personal data outside of document
Full audit trail
Cost and time
efficient
Minimal lead times
90% cost reduction
Sustainable
Reduce carbon emissions
Help SMEs growth
and prosperity
Promote infrastructure development
All the benefits
of bills of lading

All the features of digital documents

trace:original
digital bill of lading

Ready to transform your trade documentation?
Get started with Enigio's electronic bill of lading (eBL) software today and experience a faster, safer, and more sustainable way to trade.
Schedule a one-on-one call to see how trace:original can help you achieve a fully digital end-to-end workflow of digital original documents, without any changes to your existing infrastructure.
In the call we will go through your specific needs and suggest a matching solution.
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