Australia’s TBSx3 Completes Blockchain Trial to Tackle Fake Goods
Australian blockchain company TBSx3 has successfully completed its biggest trial with the innovative technology to tackle the issue of fake goods.
In a report from The Australian Business Review , the company employed the use of a 44 alphanumeric character security cryptography to deliver a blockchain-based verification system. This is compared to the six-digit public cryptography that is typically used.
A few of the big names within the freight industry also took part such as DP World Australia, DB Schenker and Hamburg Sud while KPMG advised TBSx3 on the trial. The trial involved the tracking of a bottle of wine from producer Ius.
According to the report, the system developed was designed to ensure that the end developer received the genuine product.
Mark Toohey, company founder of TSBx3, said that a global supply chain security environment that has a military precision which can monitor product movements was a necessary requirement to combat fake products.
He said:
A bits and pieces security mosaic is no longer enough.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) states that the global supply of counterfeit products is estimated to account for $US500 million each year. It is hoped that TBSx3’s solution will help to reduce this number as it effectively tracks the cargo’s journey, enabling products to be verified as genuine when they reach their destination.
TBx3 is currently a part of a government-backed delegation of bitcoin and blockchain startups representing Australia at the ongoing Consensus blockchain conference in New York.
Australia Post Uses the Blockchain to Crack Down on Fake Goods
In March, it was reported that Australia Post had teamed up with Alibaba, the world’s biggest e-commerce company and Blackmores, a prominent Australian natural health company, to explore the blockchain technology in how to combat counterfeit products in China.
As Australia Post is a major exporter of food to China, it is hoped that this partnership will provide a platform to improve food traceability to the country. According to an announcement from Australian Post, Australian products has been targeted by counterfeiters in recent years with popular items such as honey, beer, wine and cherries being the chosen products to counterfeit.
Counterfeiters have consistently proven to be tricky at detecting due to the issues of fighting fraud in foreign countries. This in turn has led to heightened distrust among consumers who remain concerned that the food they purchase will lead to health risks.
In 2016, Barclays and Israel-based startup Wave laid claims to conducting the first global trade supply chain transaction through the blockchain. Butter and cheese amounting to around $100,000 was exported from an Irish agriculture co-operative and sent across to a company in the Seychelles.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
