Single Window Systems
In the OIC Member States
10
Figure 2: Single Window Users
Source: Authors’ own construction
Each Single Window sets a different focus regarding the activities it supports. Often Single
Windows are grouped into types based on general activity areas they support:
 Single Windows for clearance formalities;
 Single Windows for logistics coordination;
 Single Windows for Business-to-Business (B2B) transactions8.
Other categories group them into customs-centric, port-centric and license-centric Single
Windows. In reality however, Single Windows nowadays integrate a large array of trade
related activities across organizational and functional boundaries in order to offer a seamless
service to traders.
The core of a Single Window is made up of business processes. A business process is a series of
actions/operations that are interrelated and transform an input into an output. In a Single
Window context, business processes are identical to regulatory or operational procedures,
such as the application for an import permit, the submission of documents to customs services,
or the submission and amendment of the ship manifest to the port authority.
8 AACE, Single Window Guide for Africa (2013)