Descartes buys ‘denied party’ trade data screening company

Descartes Systems Group has acquired MK Data Services, a provider of “denied party” data screening for potential blacklisted trading partners.
Governments and private corporations maintain lists of people, organisations and countries that it is restricted or prohibited to do business with. This includes customers, suppliers, employees and business partners for business processes such as contracting, shipping and payment.
Said US-based Descartes: “Denied party screening is of critical importance in shipping and international trade. Often, the burden of compliance with these business restrictions is placed on those involved in the logistics of a shipment, such as the exporting business, the logistics intermediary/freight forwarder or the transportation carrier.”
Descartes will use MK Data’s denied party screening as part of its Global Logistics Network (GLN).
Added Descartes: “Penalties for non-compliance have included civil fines, revocation of export privileges and criminal charges. In addition, since penalties are published publicly, non-compliance with these trade restrictions can bring with it tremendous reputational damage.”
MK Data currently helps more than 900 businesses comply with these restrictions by screening for transactions with specified parties.
As an existing business partner of Descartes with a connection to the GLN, MK Data’s technology screens shipments against a frequently updated international database of restricted parties.
MK Data’s proprietary matching algorithms allow customers to fine-tune criteria to suit their own risk concerns and to flag potential compliance issues for immediate attention.
"The GLN is the logical place for multi-national shippers, logistics intermediaries and transportation carriers to screen for compliance with international trade restrictions," said Edward Ryan, Descartes’ chief executive.
"Over 11,000 customers use the GLN to manage and execute shipments every day across various modes of transportation, countries of origin and destination and commodities.”