United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

1. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) UN/CEFACT Single Window Repository September 2005 Tom Butterly Deputy Chief, Global Trade Solutions Branch

2. Single Window - to enhance the efficient exchange of information between trade and government • A Single Window is a facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardized information and documents with a single entry point to fulfil all import, export, and transit-related regulatory requirements. If information is electronic, then individual data elements should only be submitted once. UN/CEFACT Recommendation and Guidelines on Establishing a Single Window, http://www.unece.org/cefact/recommendations/rec33/rec33_ecetrd352_e.pdf

3. Single Window Features • allow traders to lodge standardized information and documents with a single entry point to fulfil all import, export, and transit-related regulatory requirements. • if information is electronic, then individual data elements should only be submitted once. • sharing of all information in respect of international trade transactions • provide trade related government information • receive payment of duties and other charges. • co-ordinate the controls and inspections of the various governmental authorities.

4. UN/CEFACT Recommendation Number 33 • Recommendation and Guidelines on Establishing a Single Window

5. UN/CEFACT Single Window Repository • The Repository: Collection of case studies from countries that already have operational Single Windows. • Goal: to provide countries that are considering establishing a SW with concrete examples of the operation, costs and benefits of such facilities in other countries. • Format: paper publication and on-line Repository, updated regularly. • Publication: Case Studies on Implementing a Single Window

6. Finland Germany Guatemala Hong Kong SAR (China) Mauritius Malaysia Senegal Singapore Sweden United States. UN/CEFACT SW REPOSITORY – Case Studies on .. More case studies to come …….

7. Background Establishment Services Operational Model Business Model and Costs Technology Promotion and Communication Judicial aspects Standards Benefits Lessons Learned Future Plans Source for further information Contact details. Each SW case is described, following a standardized template, which covers:

8. Financing By the State (Finland, Sweden, United States), By the private sector (e.g. Guatemala, Germany) private-public partnership (e.g. China, Malaysia, Mauritius, Senegal, Singapore) The use of Single Window compulsory (Finland, Guatemala, Mauritius, Senegal) voluntary (China, Germany, Malaysia, Sweden, United States) Services Free on charge (Finland, Sweden, United States) Paid based on various payment schemes (Guatemala, Germany, China, Malaysia, Mauritius, Senegal, Singapore) Diversity of SW models: adopting to specific national/regional conditions and requirements

9. Benefits Faster clearance and release Reduced costs through reducing delays More effective and efficient deployment of resources Predictable application and explanation of rules Total implementation costs From less than one million US dollars (Guatemala) to Between 1and 4 million dollars (Finland, Senegal, Malaysia). In the US, the cost was significantly higher but the system is quite extensive and covers many additional areas. Costs and Benefits of a Single Window Benefits outweigh costs ……

10. Main obstacles in implementation • Changing the established business and State practices (Malaysia, Senegal, Singapore, United States) • Establishing cooperation and commitment of various state authorities involved in import/export procedures (Finland, USA) • Modernizing the technologies currently used by the State and the private sector (Guatemala), and small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular (Sweden).

11. Key factors for success. • Strong leadership, which can come from the private (Guatemala) or the public sector (Malaysia, Senegal, United States, Singapore) • Cooperation and commitment of all stakeholders, private and public (Finland, Mauritius, Malaysia, Senegal, United States, Singapore) • User-friendly system, which do not create complications for usual business procedures (China, Malaysia, Sweden, Senegal, United States) • Investments in modern technologies (Guatemala, Malaysia) • Phased, flexible approach (Germany, Mauritius, Singapore) • Neutrality, transparency and reliability of the proposed technical solution (Hong Kong SAR (China))

12. Next Steps • Meeting in Lyon September 28 to consider common standards and interoperability for Single Windows – various groups of experts • Workshop in February 2006 on SW Common Standards and Interoperability

13. UNECE Trade Facilitator Toolkit • Guidelines for Trade Facilitators how to develop national series of trade documents • Electronic tools for the design of PDF trade document forms • User can edit PDF, print and email documents • Document forms can be extended for integration into United Nations electronic Trade Documents (UNeDocs) and Single Window • UN Form Repository

14. Further Information … Visit www.unece.org/cefact Or Contact Tom Butterly Deputy Chief Global Trade Solutions Branch UNECE E-mail: tom.butterly@unece.org Website: www.unece.org/trade