diff --git a/util/time.go b/util/time.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5fc6ec66d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/time.go
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package util
+
+import "time"
+
+var TimeFormatIpfs = time.RFC3339Nano
+
+func ParseRFC3339(s string) (time.Time, error) {
+	t, err := time.Parse(TimeFormatIpfs, s)
+	if err != nil {
+		return time.Time{}, err
+	}
+	return t.UTC(), nil
+}
+
+func FormatRFC3339(t time.Time) string {
+	return t.UTC().Format(TimeFormatIpfs)
+}
diff --git a/util/time_test.go b/util/time_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b5a98caa6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/time_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package util
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func TestTimeFormatParseInversion(t *testing.T) {
+	v, err := ParseRFC3339(FormatRFC3339(time.Now()))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if v.Location() != time.UTC {
+		t.Fatal("Time should be UTC")
+	}
+}