Source: Syndey Futures Exchange
The Sydney Futures Exchange Limited (SFE), a subsidiary of Australian Stock Exchange Limited (ASX), and eCOPS, LLC, a subsidiary of the New York Board of Trade® (NYBOT®), announced today that they have agreed to explore the use of eCOPS® for the issuance, safe keeping and transfer of electronic documents of title for Australian commodities. The proposed initiative is designed to support the lending and risk management products of several banks and agribusiness companies, and the delivery of commodities that are the subject of futures and options contracts listed and traded on the SFE and the ASX.
eCOPS is an electronic document management platform that tracks the movement of commodities in commerce and provides for the transfer of title of goods through the creation of negotiable documents of title and other electronic documents. Most commodity industries have logistically complex and far-reaching supply chains that require significant numbers of manually processed document presentations. eCOPS provides Electronic Warehouse Receipts (EWRs), title transfers, delivery orders, sampling orders, weight notes, invoices and insurance declarations. Other electronic documentation capabilities including a bill of lading are being developed.
eCOPS currently provides extensive electronic documentation and title transfers for coffee (symbol KC), cocoa (symbol CC) and Frozen Concentrate Orange Juice (symbol OJ) deliveries. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) designated eCOPS, LLC, as the first official provider of EWRs for coffee in 2003.
An Electronic Warehouse Receipt ("EWR") is a negotiable document evidencing title for the goods stored in a storage facility. The EWR is the core document of eCOPS and most of the other documents included in the system revolve around it. The information contained on each EWR is simple and not unlike its paper counterpart, including a warehouse facility's location, terms and conditions, etc.