BARCELONA, ECR EUROPE (April 23, 2002) - The WorldWide Retail Exchange (WWRE®), the premier business-to-business exchange for retailers and suppliers, today announced the launch of its WorldWide Trade Logistics (WTL) suite and strategic alliance with NextLinx Corporation, a leading provider of global trade content and management solutions. The WTL suite - which addresses trade compliance, logistics cost estimation and analysis - is designed to streamline and automate global supply chain trade logistics operations in one centralized location.

"Logistics, import/export complications and complex legal requirements can cause companies significant time delays and financial strain. Adoption of the WTL solution will enable WWRE® members to help avoid these basic impediments and significantly cut costs," said Jim Schwab, WTL product director at the WWRE®. "Importantly, members who take full advantage of these solutions can market their supply chain efficiencies as competitive advantages."

Through the use of WWRE® solution offerings, members of the Exchange have collectively saved approximately $408 million on transaction volume of over $2.7 billion. Savings per member currently average $4.5 million. The WWRE® continues to expand its solution offerings, add functionality to existing solutions and further strengthen its value to members.

NextLinx and the WWRE® formed the alliance to take the Global Trade Compliance and Landed Cost Analyzer solutions to market by providing both the application and the global content needed to facilitate global trade compliance and landed cost calculations. The solutions are powered by NextLinx's Trade Services application and content from Global Knowledge, one of the industry's leading comprehensive databases of global trade content and international business rules, which contains 97 chapters of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule for shipping any product to over 110 countries comprising over 99 percent of world trade.

"By providing services for the WWRE®'s members worldwide, we will have yet another opportunity to validate that our trade content and innovative business logic integrate seamlessly to provide the best global trade logistics solution today. We are excited about our partnership with the WWRE® and believe it will further expand our footprint in the global e-retail space," said Rajiv Uppal, chief executive officer of NextLinx.

"The relationship we've created with NextLinx provides WWRE® members with a solution that has the potential of adding considerable value to the global logistics area of a member's business operations," remarked Pete Plotas, director of strategic alliances for the WWRE®.

The Global Trade Compliance solution enables WWRE® members to efficiently determine compliance with various government regulations, including real-time screening against government denied parties lists during the fulfillment process, determining required forms, documents or licenses before a product is shipped and assigning classification codes. The Landed Cost Analyzer solution allows members to calculate the total cost of delivered products including customs duties, taxes and other governmental charges. This added capability allows buyers and sellers to compare costs and make quick purchasing decisions with more complete, accurate and up-to-date knowledge than ever before.

"Using the WWRE®'s Global Trade Compliance tool allows members a more efficient means to explore opportunities in new markets and also provides a fast and accurate tariff classification system with true costs for importing and exporting large quantities of goods across borders," said Stuart Blackery, senior project manager at Tesco. "Members using the Landed Cost Analyzer will benefit from up-to-date duty and tax data - essential information for aiding decisions during the sourcing process."

About the WWRE®
The WWRE® is the premier Internet-based business-to-business exchange in the retail e-marketplace. The Exchange was created with the fundamental purpose of reducing costs and improving efficiencies throughout the supply chain, employing product and service solutions typical of a global procurement and supply operation. Designed to facilitate and simplify trading between retailers, suppliers, partners and distributors, the WWRE® currently consists of 61 members from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America with combined sales of approximately U.S. $855 billion. To date, the WWRE® has saved its members over $400 million through the use of online negotiations, its first product offering. For more information, visit the website at www.wwre.org or www.worldwideretailexchange.org.

About NextLinx
NextLinx Corporation is the leading provider of global trade management solutions. NextLinx's software and web services solutions combine global trade business rules and country-specific trade data, consisting of denied party lists, landed cost components, import and export controls, customs duties and documentation, to help companies reduce the risks and costs associated with importing and exporting goods across international borders. NextLinx's prestigious list of customers include: Boeing, FedEx, UPS, ABN AMRO, Cisco Systems, 3Com, Fairchild Semiconductor, Rockwell Automation, Sotheby's and Panasonic. For additional information, please visit us at www.nextlinx.com.

For more information:

Laura Battle
Edelman Worldwide
312/233-1374
laura.battle@edelman.com

Pavni Guharoy/Denise Kennedy
For NextLinx Corporation
240-372-8394, 301-315-4735
pavni_guharoy@nextlinx.com, denise_kennedy@nextlinx.com