Phase 2 of the study on costs and benefits of applying GDS in supply chains covers three GDS pilot projects, namely: (1) asparagus from Peru to the US; (2) durian from Malaysia to China and Hong Kong, China; and (3) Tequila from Mexico to the US.

As identified following an evaluation of the pilot projects, adoption of GDS comes with both benefits and costs. Among the benefits are reduction of efforts and time spent on information search, greater visibility along the supply chain, and accurate and timely capture of data. There are costs involved too, such as from subscribing to GS1 service, obtaining equipment and software, carrying out data cleaning and adjustment, and training of staff. The study also identifies drivers and challenges of GDS adoption, and suggests a few approaches to explore the wider use of GDS in the APEC region.