FreightWaves reported in July, 2018, South Korea’s Lotte Global Logistics, a major Seoul-headquartered logistics and shipping company, announced to join the blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA) which is an global consortium of blockchain-based companies, tech giants and logistics firms.

The BiTA trade association was established in 2017 in an attempt to popularize and develop blockchain applications in the transport and logistics industries, as well as to establish industry-wide standards for technology adoption. The alliance uses OriginTrail, which is a purpose-built protocol for supply chains based on blockchain, and is getting around 400 major industry players as members including UPS, Microsoft, HP, Fedex, Uber…

Lotte Global Logistics, is a multinational full-service logistics provider including overseeing warehouse management, intermodal import/export terminals and customs clearance, parcel delivery, and shipping freight by air, rail, and truckload. According to the site of the company, its transportation resources for parcel delivery form “the largest network in South Korea.”

Lotte’s shipping services are reportedly set up around 15 mega terminals, 90 branch offices and over a thousand local offices, with further overseas logistics points across the Americas, Asia and Europe.

FreightWaves reported that in advance of its interest in blockchain technology, Lotte Global has previously been offering a smartphone application for its services, as well as conducting research into drone-operated delivery services.

BiTA’s managing director, Craig Fuller, stated the alliance was “excited” to benefit from Lotte Global’s veteran experience in “many segments of the supply chain,”. This will help the corporation in its attempt to develop blockchain data standards that are “truly end-to-end.”

Also in May, 2018  the Korean operator of Malltail signed a MoU with the Korean Customs Service (KSC) – the leading consumer parcel forwarding service in the country – to develop a “full-scale” customs platform on blockchain for the e-commerce industry.