Here we explain some basic concepts about our CARO app, Spherity's Credentialing Service for Authorized Trading Partners(ATP), to help you understand its purpose and main functionalities.
If you are looking for a high-level overview of CARO, download our info brochure or visit the website.
Identifiers & credentials are stored in your CARO digital wallet. They provide the basis for all of CARO's services to you.
You may have one or more Enterprise Identifiers. These are, in fact, so-called decentralized identifiers (DID). Each is unique and assigned to a specific enterprise of yours that has registered with CARO. Each identifier holds its own set of credentials, more specifically, these are so-called verifiable credentials that enable automated information exchange between you and your counterparty, i.e. the trading partner with whom you are in business.
To satisfy DSCSA ATP requirements using CARO, you need two credentials:
Both of these credentials are assigned to the same Enterprise Identifier because the ATP Credential depends on the presence of a valid Identity Credential. Underlying this is basically a 2-step due diligence process per Enterprise Identifier.
Download a brief overview of the information needed to obtain these credentials.
Your CARO Enterprise Account is your gateway to pass ATP credential details to your VRS provider. Your VRS will then present these details to your counterparty for verification. Even though only ATP credential information is exchanged in VRS interactions, both credentials (Identity and ATP) must be valid for a VRS transaction to be successful. All this happens behind the scenes without any need for you to intervene. CARO's system is based on the concept of the trust triangle.
For example, imagine you want to find out whether you can sell a returned box of drugs. This means you will need to enquire with the manufacturer whether the box has really been produced by them. To do so, you prove to the manufacturer that you are allowed to trade pharmaceuticals, that is, you demonstrate your valid ATP status as defined by DSCSA. CARO, in collaboration with your VRS, allows you to do this in a fully automated manner once registered with us. The manufacturer, in turn, will prove to you that they are indeed a legitimate manufacturer. They use the same mechanism as you to do so by sending their valid ATP status through their VRS to you.
A full successful VRS messaging roundtrip for a product enquiry, i.e. Product Identifier (PI) verification, involves: