Blockchain technology is finding many places that the honest ledger can function beyond cryptocurrency, and the United States has a task for it. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection decided to find a better way to track imported products, and they plan to soon start experimenting with blockchain technology. This integration would specifically be used for the tracking of certificates from the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

Based on the claims made by Vincent Annunziato as the CBP Division of Business Transformation and Innovation, it seems that the first step is a “live fire testing.” The tracking information will help to validate that imported products come from the sources that they say. The testing is due to take place during the 2018 Trade Symposium that the CBP hosts in Atlanta.

The system will not be launching until September, but the process will ensure that the CBP will have more information about the products accepted into the country. They will also see how suppliers outside of the United States treat American importers, as well as it logs information about trademarks and the physical properties of every single item.

Annunziato aims to have this system working on a mobile application as well, which means there is no need to fill out excessive paperwork that is much less secure. The agency is presently working with the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC), which has a group that advises both the Securities of Treasury and Homeland Security. This committee is focusing primarily on blockchain, though there are other technologies in the background that they want to evaluate. It was not until this week that Annunziato even confirmed the work on blockchain technology.

Even with requests for more information, the CBP has not provided any more information on this trial.

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