Single Window Systems
In the OIC Member States
5
1 Conceptual Framework
In the past 15 years many governments worldwide have implemented Single Window (SW)
initiatives to simplify import and export and transport processes. These Single Window
initiatives do not follow the same model and each Single Window is set up in a different way.
They vary on organisational and technological aspects and strategic design, but the initiatives
follow the same conceptual ideas and approaches.
1.1 The Single Window Concept
The term Single Window for Trade is used to describe a variety of platforms for the exchange
of electronic information between traders, government agencies, and commercial service
providers. There is no unique model of a Single Window, and different organisations have
adopted their own definition - se – to describe the concept. Common elements of these
definitions are:
A Single Window is a i) single entry point, ii) for the lodgement of standardized information,
iii) related to import, export and transit related formalities.
The majority of the Single Windows are electronic platforms. Early Single Window initiatives
however also comprised physical versions that brought together separate public entities in
one physical location. These approaches are now referred to as One-Stop Shops. It is now
commonly understood that a Single Window rests on a shared Information Technology (IT)
Box 1: Definitions of Single Windows for Trade
UNECE Recommendation No 331 defines a Single Window for Trade as follows: “... 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-related
regulatory requirements.”
The World Customs Organisations (WCO) defines a Single Window as: “... a cross border,
‘intelligent’, and facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge
standardized information, mainly electronic, with a single entry point to fulfil all import,
export and transit related regulatory requirements.”1
The African Alliance for E-commerce (AACE) defines a SW as “... a national or regional system
mainly built on a computer platform initiated by a government or an ad hoc entity to
facilitate the performance of import, export or transit-related formalities, by offering a single
point of submission of standardized data and documents in a bid to fulfil official
requirements and facilitate logistics.1”