Trade Compliance Platform

Part of the worlds-biggest-software-project initiative.

An AI-native, open-source trade compliance platform for denied party screening, export classification, and licence management.

The Trade Compliance Platform helps exporters, importers, and compliance teams screen counterparties, classify goods, and manage export licences across multiple jurisdictions. It targets the gap left by legacy enterprise suites that price out small and mid-size exporters while remaining UI-dated and slow to adopt AI. The project aims to bring modern, explainable AI workflows to compliance work that today depends on scarce specialist expertise.

Why Trade Compliance Platform?

Incumbents (Descartes Visual Compliance, ONESOURCE Global Trade, e2open, SAP GTS) all use custom enterprise pricing — entry tiers start around USD 5,000–15,000/year and full deployments reach seven figures, pricing out SMB exporters.
Legacy platforms have dated UIs and complex configuration; ONESOURCE's REST API is criticised as immature (limited to US/Canada) and SOAP is being deprecated without feature parity.
AI-native capabilities are still proprietary and partial: Descartes AI Assist, KYG Trade's ChatECN/ChatHTS, and e2open's transliteration each address one slice but no open, auditable solution exists.
EU CBAM (definitive from January 2026), UFLPA forced-labour diligence, and multi-tier sanctions exposure are underserved across the incumbent landscape.
Regulatory data (OFAC, BIS, EU Consolidated List) is government-published and freely available; an open-source aggregator combined with explainable AI classification is feasible without IP conflicts.

Key Features

Screening and Sanctions

Denied/restricted party screening against OFAC SDN, BIS Entity List, BIS Denied Persons List, EU Consolidated List, and UN sanctions lists
Real-time and batch screening modes
OFAC 50% rule / sanctioned ownership screening for indirect beneficiaries
Continuous re-screening with alerts when existing counterparties appear on new lists
AI-assisted false-positive triage to reduce manual review queues

Classification

AI-assisted ECCN classification with explainable rationale and cited regulatory sources
HS/HTS code classification from product descriptions, BOMs, specs, and images
USML/ITAR classification for defence articles
Configurable decision trees and progressive disclosure for routine vs. complex goods
Inline surfacing of WCO Explanatory Notes and CROSS rulings

Licence Management

Export licence determination given product, destination, and end-user
Licence application tracking, consumption monitoring, and expiry alerts
End-use assessment and end-user certificate management
Embargo and sanctions checks on transactions

Regulatory Intelligence

Continuous monitoring of CCL, USML, Wassenaar, BIS, OFAC, and EU dual-use updates
Natural-language regulatory change digests flagging affected products and counterparties
Audit trail and compliance reporting for every classification and screening decision

Integration and APIs

REST API with OpenAPI 3.x specification
SAP ECC and S/4HANA connector
Oracle ERP and Salesforce integrations
Bulk data downloads and self-hostable screening API

AI-Native Advantage

AI assists where compliance work is most expensive: ECCN/HS classification (which today depends on scarce specialists), false-positive triage in denied party screening, and reading regulatory updates. The platform pairs natural-language licence determination with multi-tier counterparty graph analysis to surface indirect sanctions exposure. Every AI decision is explainable and audit-logged, with cited regulatory sources, so compliance officers retain accountability.

Tech Stack & Deployment

The platform is designed for self-hosted and cloud deployment, with a JSON/REST API-first architecture and OpenAPI 3.x specifications. It aligns with established standards: EAR/ECCN, ITAR/USML, OFAC sanctions lists, EU Dual-Use Regulation (2021/821), Harmonized System / Schedule B, AES electronic filing, and the WCO SAFE Framework. Open-source sanctions data (OpenSanctions, FollowtheMoney model) is integrated where compatible, and certified ERP connectors are provided for SAP and Oracle.

Market Context

The trade compliance software market is valued at approximately USD 3.09 billion in 2025 and is growing through 2029, driven by expanding sanctions regimes, new tariff structures, and supply chain scrutiny (Globe Newswire, 2026). Consolidation is accelerating — WiseTech Global acquired e2open for USD 2.1 billion in August 2025. Primary buyers are export and trade compliance officers at manufacturers of controlled goods, customs managers, legal/regulatory affairs teams at defence and aerospace firms, and supply chain directors managing multi-jurisdiction flows.

Project Status

This project is in the research and specification phase.
Contributions, feedback, and domain expertise are welcome.

Contributing

We welcome contributions from developers, domain experts, and potential users. See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Important: All contributions must be your own original work or clearly attributed open-source material with a compatible licence. Copyright infringement and licence violations will not be tolerated and will result in immediate removal of the offending contribution. If you are unsure whether a piece of code, text, or other material is safe to contribute, open an issue and ask before submitting.

Licence

Licence to be determined. See discussion for context.