Activities of Emma McCLARKIN related to 2018/2085(INI)
Reports (1)
REPORT on Blockchain: a forward-looking trade policy PDF (371 KB) DOC (74 KB)
Amendments (35)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
– having regard to the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement,
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 b (new)
Citation 4 b (new)
– having regard to the World Customs Organisation Revised Kyoto Convention,
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas in this report blockchain will be considered as a private, permissioned distributed ledger technology (DLT), comprising a database made up of sequential blocks of data that are added with the consensus of network operators unless otherwise stated;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas various case-studies and industries will derive different utility from a mixture of private/public, permissioned/permissionless blockchains;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas blockchain enableseach block on a blockchain contains a hash that verifies the data on previous blocks, enabling separate parties to engage in transactions with enhanced trust and accountability because data stored on a ledger cannot be easily falsified;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas blockchain could enable certain administrators to clearly define roles, responsibilities, levels of access, and rights of validation for the participants;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas there are at least 202 government blockchain initiatives in 45 countries around the world and economies in Asia-Pacific, Americas and Middle East regions in particular are investing in blockchain technologies for trade;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas blockchain is still an evolving technology which necessitates an innovation friendly, enabling and encouraging framework that provides for legal certainty and respects the principle of technology neutrality, and at the same time promotes consumer, investor and environmental protection; for instance, the network effects associated with the adoption of blockchain technology risk posing challenges to SMEs;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas blockchain can enhance and improve EU trade policies, such as Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs), particularly of Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs), data adequacy decisions and trade defence measures;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas blockchain can provide a framework of transparency in a supply chain, reduce corruption, detect tax evasion, allow the tracking of unlawful payments and tackle trade-based money laundering (TBML); whereas there are risks associated with the use of unpermissioned blockchain applications for criminal activities, including tax evasion, tax avoidance and TBML and insists that these issues are monitored and addressed urgently by the Commission and Member States;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Expresses regret that EU FTAs are underutilised as, on average, only 67% of EU exporters and 90% of EU importers make use of the preferential tariffs in both the EU and its partner countries or regions; notes that the Commission’s own explanations for this include the difficulties for businesses to understand the rules for obtaining preferential treatment and the cumbersome procedures for obtaining documents needed to benefit from preferential treatment; notes that exporters could upload all their documents to a public authority application underpinned by blockchain, and instantly prove their compliance with preferential treatment granted by the FTA, such as qualification for preferential rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) rules, Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) Chapter implementation and technical standards;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Expresses regret that EU FTAs are underutilised; notes that exporters could upload all their documents to a public authority application underpinned by blockchain, and instantly provdemonstrate their compliance with preferential treatment granted by the FTAan FTA; believes that blockchain could enhance provisions for cumulation in FTAs, such as the EU- Japan Economic Partnership Agreement;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. CViews the procedures for obtaining certification for both preferential and non-preferential rules of origin to be costly and cumbersome for businesses; for preferential, blockchain can assist to establish the economic nationality of a good to determine whether it is wholly obtained in one country, or materials and ingredients were obtained and processed from several countries; for non- preferential, considers that blockchain could assist the Union’s trade defence instruments by providing transparency over the provenance of goods entering the European market and an overview of the influx of imports;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Believes that MRAs of AEOs enable businesses to diversify their supply chains through reduced time and costs associated with cross-border customs; notes with concern that the Commission has only signed six MRAs of AEO with Norway, Switzerland, Japan, Andorra, the US and China and that there are implementation issues to be addressed, such as limitations on information sharing, incompatible technologies in different countries for the grant/application of agreed benefits to MRA partners’ AEOs, costs and investments required to develop new technologies and data storage requirements; feels that blockchain offers the potential to reduce the uncertainty associated with implementing MRAs of AEOs, through a seamless exchange of data;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Believes that digitisation will enable the exchange of information to be more efficient and transparent; views dithat blockchain can enable producers, laboratories, logistisation as a prerequisitecs operators, regulators and consumers to have access to, and share, all necessary information such as provenance, testing, certification, and licensing; notes that blockchain could also assist the appropriate issuing of e- certificates; views digitisation and the use of applications along the supply chains to be both a prerequisite and a complement for blockchain to be fully functional;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Believes that digitisation will enable the exchange of information to be more efficient and transparent and that blockchain could improve the exchange of information by enabling customs authorities to automatically obtain the required information for a customs declaration, reduce the need for manual verification, provide a precise update on the status and characteristics of goods entering, leaving and transiting in the EU; views digitisation as a prerequisite for blockchain to be fully functional;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Believes that the adoption of blockchain technologies throughout the supply chain can increase the volume of global trade by reducing transaction costs and assisting businesses to identify new trading partners, and can lead to increased consumer confidence in digital trade;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Underlines the utility of blockchain in the following ways: strengthening the certainty of the provenance of goods, reducing the risk of illicit goods entering the supply chain, upholding consumer protection, reducing the costs of supply chain management, and improving trust and business stability;for improving trust and business stability, notably in the following ways:
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 – point a (new)
Paragraph 9 – point a (new)
(a) Strengthening the certainty of both the provenance and intellectual property rights of goods, thereby reducing the risk of illicit goods, including fake and counterfeit goods, entering the supply chain as the ledger will detail the precise origins of the good, its intermediary components, the conditions of assembly and carriage and checks undertaken throughout the supply chain,
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 – point b (new)
Paragraph 9 – point b (new)
(b) Providing authorities precise information as to when a good may have been damaged/tampered with on a supply chain, thereby enabling greater information for recall protocols,
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 – point c (new)
Paragraph 9 – point c (new)
(c) Improving transparency by enabling all participants to record their transactions and share this information in the network,
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 – point d (new)
Paragraph 9 – point d (new)
(d) Upholding consumer protection and trust by providing the customer with greater information on the good,
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 – point e (new)
Paragraph 9 – point e (new)
(e) Reducing the costs of supply chain management as it will remove the need for intermediaries and the associated costs, the physical requirement to produce, transport and process paper documentation will be removed and all of the required information will be located in a single place on the blockchain,
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 – point f (new)
Paragraph 9 – point f (new)
(f) Improving the application of correct duty and VAT payments, eliminating the need to determine the correct amount of tariffs at the border, and
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 – point g (new)
Paragraph 9 – point g (new)
(g) Reducing the total time goods are in transit by automating tasks that are typically accomplished through manual means; notes the benefit this offers, in particular to just-in-time supply chains, both to reduce costs and the carbon footprint of the logistics industry;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Notes that criminals can manipulate legitimate trade to mask their illicit activities, such as TBML, by tampering with the necessary documentation with false reporting such as overvaluation or undervaluation of the good concerned; believes that blockchain can enable customs and other authorities to take necessary actions in a timely, prompt and coordinated manner to expose illicit financial flows;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes the connection between blockchain and cross-border data flows for trade; notes that a private permissioned inter-ledger network can provide trust between platforms by integrating data from multiple sources; highlights the distinction between personal and non-personal data on the blockchain;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Recognises the challenge posed by the relationship between blockchain technologies and the implementation of GDPR; highlights that the implementation of blockchain should be compliant to other existing EU legislation on data protection, including the Regulation on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market (eIDAS) and the EU Network and Information Security Directive (NIS); notes that blockchain technology can provide solutions for GDPR implementation because both initiatives are underpinned by common principles of ensuring secured and self-governed data; emphasises the limited effect of GDPR on commercial transactions undertaken on the blockchain due to the absence of personal data on blockchains;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Believes that innovation and promotion regarding blockchain can create economic opportunities for SMEs to internationalise, by making it easier to interact with consumers, customs authorities, and other businesses involved in the supply chain; and the potential to overcome the costs associated with exporting; adds that the blockchain infrastructure can help bring products and services to market quickly and inexpensively allowing businesses of all sizes to compete on a level playing field;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes the proliferation of different blockchains anchoring data for a transaction into separate private and public ledgers; recognises that there is an increasing need to develop a meansn interoperability standard to integrate transactions across blockchains around the movement of an item along a supply chain to encourage interoperability between systems;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Recognises the challenges of trading with countries who use different blockchain protocols; believes that the potential of the technology can only be fully achieved if the majority of operators adopt the technology;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls on the Commission to follow developments in the area of blockchain, in particular the ongoing pilots/initiatives in the international supply chain as well as customs and regulatory processes; invites the Commission to produce a strategy document on adopting blockchain technologies in trade and supply chain management;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls on the Commission to develop a set of guiding principles tailored to industry to provide a level of certainty that encourages the use of blockchain and innovation in this area; underlines the utility of providing general legal certainty;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Commission to set up an advisory group within DG Trade on blockchain and to develop a concept note for private permissioned pilot projects on the end-to-end use of blockchain in the supply chain, involving customs and other cross-border authorities, and intellectual property rights and the fight against counterfeiting; recognises that blockchain technology is still in the early stages of development yet there is a need for an industry strategy on the effective implementation of blockchain;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Calls on the Commission to conduct policy investigations into how blockchain can modernise the Union’s trade defence policies to strengthen their legitimacy and enforcement;