Single Window Systems
In the OIC Member States
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Customs Services are often advanced in terms of IT resources and skills, have an independent
budget, and control all trade transactions. The challenge of this approach is to ensure
involvement of other agencies and a strategy design that not only caters to the efficiency of the
customs clearance process but also to the objectives of other government departments, i.e. the
physical movement of goods and food and sanitary control.
Another approach is to set up a new entity for the Single Window operations that is neutral and
specifically tasked to develop and manage the Single Window. Such an entity can take different
legal forms; public or private. Governments contract out the development and operation of the
SingleWindow through a contractual Private-Public Partnership (PPP) arrangement to a private
or joint venture public private company, or through a special enactment to a public enterprise.
In terms of ownership and funding, Single Windows follow two different approaches. In the
public model, the government funds the initial investment and, depending on the financial
arrangement, and may also cover the operational expenses from its regular budget. In the
public-private model a private company alone or in cooperation with the government provides
the funding for the investment and operational expenses. In return, under a PPP contract, the
profit generated by the Single Window is retained by the private company, which may also
receive an annual payment from the government budget for its service.
The majority of the Single Windows charges fees for their services. There are different types of
fees – see Table 1 below. Commonly Single Windows combine a registration/subscription fee
and a usage based charge, which is either document a volume based.
Table 1: Type of Fees and Charges
Type of fee Calculation basis Single Window Examples
Registration fee Annual Morocco: Annual subscription 300 US$
Hong Kong: Annual Fee 129 US$
One-time Malaysia registration (one time): ~ US$125 or US$65 for SME
Hong Kong registration (one time): 640 US$
Senegal registration fees (one time): 200 US$
Mailbox charges Malaysia: ~40 US$ or 20 US$ for SME
User charge Volume / transaction
based
Morocco: 1,000 US$ to 2,400 US
Senegal: per transaction: 10 US$ plus additional document: 2
US$ per document
Document based Malaysia: 0.25 US$/kilobyte; or 1.25 US$ per document
Singapore: per declaration basis 2.8 US$
Hong Kong: 0.64 US$ per document
Value based Percentage Ghana fixed fees at 0.4% of declared FOB value on import
Source: Authors’ own compilation from information on websites and different publications