By agreeing on a universally standardized e-trade procedural language trading parties all over the world will benefit immensely in labour and time savings, while at the same time ensuring absolute correctness in trade communication exchanges.

This breakthrough in the paper industries´ customer trade relations has been brought about through the initiative taken by a group of 23 major European and global companies and the US-based GCA (Graphic Comminications Association). The group of companies comprises companies active in many different business sectors such as publication papers, fine papers, packaging, pulp, etc. A number of major paper customers in both Europe and North America have also participated in the work to create this new trade procedures standard.

Called PapiNet, the single and unified XML-based electronic standard consists initially of the following five core trading message documents:

* Purchase Order
* Order Confirmation
* Call-Off (delivery schedule)
* Delivery Message
* Invoice.

By using the Internet as the carrier of these electronically standardizes messages, the hitherto cumbersome, timeconsuming and at times error-prone process of first creating and then exchanging formal paper-based documents by fax can now be relegated to the dustbin of paper trade history. As a result of the dramatically simplified and vastly cost-efficient e-commerce-based paper trade, a win-win-situation emerges for producers and customers alike, in the final end increasing the benefits of paper products to all end-consumers by eliminating antiquated costly traditional trading procedures.

The five PapiNet messages will be available for test purposes in January 2001, to be followed by a number of additional messages developed during the first half of next year. Through the PapiNet standard the complete exchange of relevant trade communications will eventually be covered.

For information please contact:
Bengt Roslund, Project leader,
telephone: +32 2 627 4906; bengt.roslund@packaging.sca.se and

Paul Conn, GCA, telephone: +1 (703) 519-8173; pconn@gca.org