What is the KYG.Trade SaaS?

KYG.Trade is a vendor and blockchain agnostic SaaS platform that allows importers, exporters, chambers of commerce, and tax and customs agencies to securely exchange on a permissioned basis sensitive product attribute data, conduct research, and audit various tax, trade and SESG attestations. All physical and digital conferring events are immutably recorded to a trusted distributed ledger and can be permanently linked to off-chain supporting documentation.  

How does the KYG.Trade Marketplace help with tax, trade and SESG compliance?

The efficient exchange of information via the OriginBX OASIS product attribute specification is expected to lower the cost of tax, trade and SESG compliance significantly. The KYG.Trade Platform reduces the risk of invalid origin and other tax, trade and SESG claims and penalties through a combination of smart off-chain oracles. The off-chain oracles and determinations can be augmented by qualified trade attorney’s, customs brokers, chambers of commerce, and other independent 3rd party experts via the KYG.Trade Marketplace.

Since the Platform and Marketplace leverage blockchain technology,  recording origin and other attestation event series can’t be altered once identified and hashed on an immutable distributed ledger. This feature eliminates the current trust-less certification state of play with a secure, highly compliant, transparent, data rich trust-based process for both industry and regulators.

In addition, the KYG.Trade Marketplace allows a global network of independent third-party experts specializing in complex rules of origin and other tax, trade and SESG regulations to review supporting production data and attest that an exporter’s or importer’s attestation is accurate.  The 3rd party expert’s findings are also immutably recorded via KYG.Trade, providing an even higher level of trust. 

Will KYG.Trade’s features and functions replace my existing software?

No. Rather than replace or upgrade, KYG.Trade extends the capabilities, features, and functions of existing legacy ERP, logistics, R&D, supply chain management, and global trade management systems via EDI or our API. We are also blockchain agnostic and can extend the capabilities of various emerging track and trace provenance farm-to-table DLs.

How are tax, trade and SESG attestations determined?

The collection of a good’s attribute data and production process events are first analyzed by external rules based, AI and ML expert systems (i.e., oracles). These oracles can either be your own internal systems or 3rd party oracles that have been certified and integrated with KYG.Trade. In addition to interfacing with software oracles, the KYG.Trade Marketplace consists of tax, trade and SESG compliance experts who can assist with the review, determination, and final attestation process.

For example, when the required production data for an origin attestation is received from an external FTA software oracle, a certification of origin (CO) message is immutably recorded to KYG.Trade’s registry representing a trusted digital equivalent of paper-based COs.  As raw goods are transformed into intermediate goods which are transformed into finished goods (i.e., downstream production), new KYGID™ messages are the progeny of the ancestor (up stream) messages and can be tracked via our distributed knowledge graph reporting.   

Who owns and has access to my confidential BOM and other trade secret sensitive product data used to determine and create the attestations?

The user/entity that records and links information to a KYGID™ is and forever will be the data owner. 3rd parties are only able to access your data if you provide them with a private cryptographic key.

Who owns and controls KYG.Trade?

KYG Trade, Inc. is a Delaware C Corporation and is privately owned (see About Us). The standards and specifications utilized to exchange product attribute information are open sourced via the OriginBX OASIS Standard Project.

How much does it cost to use KYG.Trade?

There are no initial license fees to utilize our SaaS platform or API. Some enterprise users may require the assistance of a Certified Channel Partner to implement KYG.Trade for your organization. On going use of KYG.Trade is usage-based pay-as-you-go for creating attestations. For example, creating a certification of origin attestation would incur a usage fee ranging from $3 to $5 depending on your plan level. Our plan levels include: Free, Standard, Premium, and Enterprise.

If I don’t currently utilize tax and trade management or compliance software, can I still utilize KYG.Trade?

Yes! KYG.Trade SaaS can be used on a standalone basis and accessed via web browsers and mobile devices.

What assistance can you offer to SMEs and Customs agencies located in developing and least developed countries?

The KYG.Trade Foundation’s mission is to facilitate trade, abolish forced labor, and increase the utilization of free trade agreements on a world-wide basis. The Foundation provides grants to SMEs and customs agencies located in developing and least developed countries. Our grants are designed to offset all or a portion of the cost to implement and use the KYG.Trade platform. Click here to learn more.

How confidential is my data? 

Using a combination of zero-knowledge proof, Merkle trees, encrypted hashes and off-chain document storage,  field level atomic attribute access to sensitive data (e.g., component prices in a Bill of Materials, supplier information, etc.) can be hidden from unauthorized parties. These anonymous privacy features give owners of data the ability to efficiently share product attribute information while keeping competitive trade secrets, margin and sourcing information private from customers and competitors.

When a tax, customs or other government regulatory authority requests information or commences an audit, the original source documents supporting the attestation can be made available directly by the data owner.  This data includes the off-chain source documentation that is referenceable by way of the good’s KYGID™, ownership information, and the information that was embedded in the good’s event series that was immutably recorded to a distributed ledger.  

What pain points does KYG.Trade solve?

Brand owners and manufacturers are constantly asked to provide the same product information over and over again to their customers, suppliers, agents and authorities via email and attachments. The information is required to determine and make various mandatory tax, trade and SESG attestations to regulators in order to import or export their goods. Trade compliance costs an estimated 1% to 3% of COGS, or from $200 to $600 billion annually. 80% of the cost and time to determine and make attestations is spent on gathering product attribute information such as bills of material, specifications, recipes, and production data. Many traders forego tax and duty benefit programs due to complex rules and record keeping requirements.

The KYG.Trade Platform and Marketplace simplifies the exchange of product attribute information, eliminates redundancy, and streamlines the attestation process. The result is a significant reduction in cost and penalty risk while increasing levels of compliance and utilization of preferential tax, tariff and SESG benefits.

What is the market need for KYG.Trade?

KYG.Trade…The Know Your Goods Attestation Platform and Marketplace™ can be applied to any exported or imported good across all countries, sectors and industries. The number of merchants requiring expert assistance to understand international tax and trade regulations is increasing exponentially in step with the growth in small parcel cross-border trade.  KYG.Trade helps MNEs, SMEs and tax and customs agencies manage the administrative burden, complexity, lack of transparency and trust associated with tax, trade and SESG attestations.

For example, KYG.Trade supports compliance and certifications of origin for 231 countries covering 480+ free trade agreements, which contain over 700,000 product specific rules of origin. $9.7 trillion in manufactured goods are traded under preferential agreements each year.  Every importer that claims preferential tariff benefits requires a certification of origin. KYG.Trade streamlines and demystifies preferential origin utilization and compliance.  

Every company and government that utilizes a free trade agreement or is subject to punitive or retaliatory tariffs is a potential user.