Secro and IQAX Connect Through GSBN to Enable Cross-Platform eBL Interoperability
Secro and IQAX announced a connection through GSBN on 4 July 2025 to enable cross-platform electronic bill of lading interoperability. The release describes document-control tracking through GSBN’s Control Tracking Registry.
The global supply chain is an intricate and highly fragmented ecosystem, encompassing a wide array of stakeholders -from carriers and freight forwarders to traders, exporters, banks, and financial institutions. Expecting all participants to standardize on a single platform for managing electronic Bills of Lading (eBLs) is simply not realistic. That is why eBL interoperability is not just a desirable feature—it is essential to the future of global trade.
Interoperability empowers multiple solution providers to interconnect, allowing stakeholders to operate within their trusted platforms while still being able to issue, transfer, and receive eBLs seamlessly. This capability breaks down technical silos and unlocks collaboration across the broader trade ecosystem, reducing friction and accelerating digital adoption without imposing rigid standardization.
As a major milestone in this direction, Secro and IQAX eBL are now interconnected through a secure, blockchain-based infrastructure, with the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) acting as the Control Tracking Registry. This trusted registry ensures transparency, traceability, and the immutability of eBL transfers across platforms while upholding the following critical principles of eBL interoperability:
Unicity: At any given time, only one original eBL exists. It is held and controlled by the lawful holder via a single solution provider, ensuring the integrity of ownership and the uniqueness of the document.
Legal Validity: Transfers and recognition of eBLs are governed by the Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR), a harmonized legal framework that enables enforceability and recognition across jurisdictions and platforms.
Liability: Each platform remains accountable for its own customers. Interoperability does not require exporters, traders, banks, or insurers to adopt new rulebooks; rather, liability is handled bilaterally between providers under existing compliance frameworks.
Furthermore, the solution is backed by the International Group of P&I Clubs, ensuring that electronic shipments remain insurable and fully aligned with maritime legal standards.
GSBN, IQAX, and Secro are proud to contribute to this significant leap forward in trade digitalization—creating a more connected, collaborative, and interoperable future for global commerce.
Interoperability between software platforms is essential to driving the mass adoption of electronic Bills of Lading. We’re proud to support this effort alongside like-minded innovators.”
- Michele Sancricca, Co-founder and CEO of Secro