Managing and limiting risk is essential in the
international coffee trade and shipping environment. Knowing and trusting one's
counterparts is not always easy. Managing the risks inherent in negotiable
documents requires security, non-repudiation and certainty of delivery.
Although some companies have been using e-commerce
for some time despite the lack of specific international or national
legislation, the lack of legal clarity has slowed acceptance. The electronic
exchange of data does not in itself pose a problem. However, when the data
represent contracts, negotiable instruments or payments, a clear legal and
neutral framework is required. In the absence of uniform national legislation,
this framework can take the form of a multilateral contract that binds all
participants to rules of conduct that are necessary for these transactions to
work.