Insurance broker Sedgwick Ltd. will offer marine cargo insurance on the electronic commerce network pioneered by Full Service Trade System, Ltd. from its offices in Hamilton.

Sedgwick has also taken a shareholding in Full Service. The deal will combine Full Service's electronic international trade processing with on-line insurance quotes and coverage. It will allow Full Service to extend the range of services it can provide through its secure system hooking up international sellers, buyers, banks, and shippers.

Company chief financial officer Anthony Nagel said with the inclusion of the international brokerage firm negotiations are currently underway with insurers in Bermuda and London about their participation in the venture.

"Our goal at TradeCard is to provide a truly full service, electronic one-stop shop for international trade,'' he said. "Sedgwick will play a vital role in making this possible.'' Sedgwick Chief Executive Officer David Trezies said the deal will "revolutionise'' the provision of insurance in international trade.

"Sedgwick's role is as an adviser to the operation, using our knowledge of global regulatory regimes and international insurance markets to structure a viable service and source appropriate underwriting capacity,'' he said. "We will also be acting as claims administrators on behalf to the insurers once selected.'' TradeCard is patented software that allows companies to buy and sell directly from their destop computer over a secure electronic network provided by GE Information Services. The system is meant as an electronic alternative to the paper-based letter of credit process which requires bank staff to examine documents manually before releasing payment for a trade.

Using the software buyers create electronic purchase forms which can then be modified as the deal is worked out with the sellers. Once agreement on the terms are reached the forms can be digitally signed. The system allows sellers or freight forwards to ten create electronic shipping documents.

When the cargo insurance option is available users will be able to select quotations on line or make separate arrangements off-line. Sedgwick has 290 offices in 70 countries to promote the TradeCard service.

"Sedgwick knows from the existing experience of its credit insurance business that the traditional letters of credit process is costly and administratively cumbersome,'' Mr. Trezies said. "Some 80 percent of all such documents contain discrepancies that require costly manual changes. TradCard's electronic documentation, and objective computerised compliance checking is a revolutionalry breakthrough in international trade.'' Full Service also announced the first transaction on the network was completed in April. New Jersey-based Avalon Products used TradeCard to import $21,600 worth of baby strollers from Taipei-based Most-Brite. NationsBank's Atlanta granted credit for the transaction and Most-Brite's account at Standard Charted Bank in Taipei received the payment.

Best Freight International of Hong Kong provided shipping services through the system.

Full Service Chief Executive Officer Ed James expressed satisfaction with the initial reaction to the TradeCard system.

"This transaction is like the first telephone call or TV broadcast,'' he said. "It is the beginning of a new era and we are proud to have created this technological revolution.'' The company's focus in the coming months will be on importers in the US, Canada, France and Holland. So far six major banks including NationsBank and Standard Chartered Bank in London are involved with the project.

Mr. Nagel said the company is in negotiations to form other strategic alliances with those involved in international trade. Negotiations are underway with inspection companies that check and verify goods being imported.

The company will also focus on ports and customs authorities worldwide to facilitate electronic trade.

"It makes international trade much more efficient and as a second benefit it gives everyone a full audit trail,'' he said.

The TradeCard system has the backing of affiliate World Trade Centres Association (WTCA), which originally conceived the service. The organisation is an international non-profit association that promotes cross-border trade.

Based at the World Trade Centre in New York, WTCA was founded in 1970 and has a membership base of 500,000 companies in 97 countries.

Mr. Nagel projects that the company can reach a volume of up to 1.5 million trades a year in five years time, a small but significant chunk of the $3 trillion worth of international trade a year currently being done by letter of credit.