Announced June 18 as API components of the UPS Shipping Tool, the two technology-enabled services are designed to simplify global trade.

"When you ship internationally, you have to put together a commercial invoice that in the past has consisted of five sheets of paper," said Donna Barrett, manager of technology public relations for UPS. "You have to put down what the goods are, where they were manufactured, their cost, and their materials, and then attach that documentation to every package. It takes a lot of time to generate and is the number one cause of problems in international shipping with paperwork that is lost, incomplete or incorrect."

Using the UPS paperless invoice API, retailers can incorporate its functionality into their own internal shipping systems or develop it as part of another software application, such as Quicken. As a result, Barrett said they can create electronic document templates with corporate letterhead and signatures and then electronically transmit commercial invoice documents to countries that accept them electronically.

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