Single Window System Research Articles

Effect of Single Window System Procedures on Cargo Clearance Efficiency in Kenya: A Case for Mombasa Port

A Single Window Concept is a one-stop facility that allows exchange of information between all parties involved in trade across borders. It is aimed at reducing the complexity, time and costs of clearing goods at the ports. The Concept has been successfully implemented in Kenya in areas such as the Mombasa port, Jomo Kenyatta International airport, Moi International airport and Kenyan borders. The study sought to identify the Effect of Single Window System on cargo clearance efficiency at the port of Mombasa. In particular, to determine its effect on shipping procedures, Pre-clearance permits and Customs goods declaration procedures at the port of Mombasa. The study adopted a quantitative approach targeting a population of 155 respondents. Stratified sampling technique was used to get a sample size of 112 respondents. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire with Likert scale measurement. Data was collected and analyzed using descriptive as well as inferential statistics. The study found that Single Window concept has positive effect on Shipping procedures (p-value 0.952), Pre-clearance permits (p-value 0.861), Customs goods declaration procedures (p-value 0.950) and hence improved cargo clearance efficiency at the port of Mombasa. The study recommends more studies to be done on variables that affect cargo clearance efficiency at the port of Mombasa which were not covered under this study. Keywords: Concept, One-stop facility, Cargo clearance, Pre-clearance permits, Customs goods declarations, Regulatory agencies, Electronic cargo authentication. DOI : 10.7176/EJBM/11-24-11 Publication date : August 31 st 2019

Система оказания государственных муниципальных услуг в многофункциональном центре

<p>В статье дается обзор системы оказания государственных и муниципальных услуг в многофункциональных центрах, основной целью которой является упрощение получения справок и разрешительных документов населением по типу «единого окна».</p><p> </p>

Fenestration refurbishment of an educational building: Experimental and numerical evaluation of daylight, thermal and building energy performance

Although strict building energy codes are implemented periodically in many countries, buildings continually consume a momentous quota of total primary energy. Potentially, new buildings can satisfy current building energy codes, while existing buildings require refurbishment. Recently, the fenestration system of a 4-story educational building located in Cheonan, Republic of Korea (36.815oN, 127.114oE) has been refurbished from single glazed double-sliding window system with aluminum (Al) frame to double low-e glazed double-sliding window system with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) frame. The main objective of this study was to investigate the performance of the window system prior to and after refurbishment, using experimental and numerical tools. In particular, daylight environment of a demarcated space within the reference building was examined. Thermal behavior of glazing systems and window frames was scrutinized using infra-red (IR) thermography. The dynamic behavior of window system in relation to building energy performance was evaluated through EnergyPlus. Reference data of the building and nominal operational schedules were used as inputs for the building model, while inputs for the window system were based on optical and structural parameters of its data sets. Owing to thermal inertia, temperature of the single glazing was on average 0.7–1.9 °C higher than the double glazing. Considering linear radiant heat loss through Al and PVC frames, the former showed an avearge temperature of 5 °C higher than the latter. Although electrical lighting energy consumption increased, the overall annual building energy consumption of the renovated building reduced by 51.1 GJ (i.e. 4.3%).

The Process of Land Passenger Transportation by International Bus Crossing Lao and Vietnamese Border Gates

Aims and Objectives:The objective of this study is to compare and explain the process and time-cost of passenger transportation by an international bus crossing three border gates between Laos and Vietnam, which are the (1) Nam Phao-Cau Treo (2) Na Phao – Cha Lo and (3) Dansavanh – Lao Bao border gates.Methods:The target groups of the research selected by purposive sampling are land passenger transportation service companies and land transport passengers, who, through interviews and observations, are the Key Informants (KIs).Results:The results reveal that (1) there are many routes and bus companies that provide local and international passenger services. The main group of passengers is Vietnamese crossing into Laos and linking to Thailand. (2) The international bus service across the Cha Lo-Na Pao border gates is shorter than the other pair border gates (3) The information system for transportation is inefficient (4) The single window system policy at Dansavanh – Lao Bao border gates can reduce the immigration checkpoint process by about 30 - 60 minutes.Conclusion:Therefore, the governments of Laos, Vietnam and Thailand should focus on intergrating transportation policy, such as employing one bus from Vietnam to Thailand per day starting in Vietnam and traveling to Thailand, crossing at the Na Phao-Cha Lo border gates and reducing the time at the immigration checkpoint in order to enhance and support economic cooperation in this region.

Направление «таможенный аудит»: внедрение в целях развития электронной таможни

Development of electronic customs is currently a relevant area of work for both the Eurasian Economic Commission and the Federal Customs Service (FCS) of Russia. It relates to the introduction of a “single window” mechanism, one of the blocks of which is electronic customs. The need of customs audit implementation in the work of customs services in the EAEU countries emphasizes its development being part of the block of electronic customs. However, the introduction of customs audit is restrained by uncertainty in its understanding. The article analyses the existing customs audit application practice for customs control of goods abroad. It is determined that in all researched countries customs audit is understood as a form of customs control. In the study, the authors develop possible approaches to implementation of customs audit in the activities of the Russian Federal Customs Service, namely a form of customs control (based on the experience of foreign countries), a subject type of business activity, and a special type of state control. Possible negative consequences of customs audit introduction in each case are analyzed. In addition, the authors prove that introducing a new form of customs control (customs audit) would be inexpedient. The results of the experiment on customs audit application conducted by the FCS of Russia are also analyzed in the article. The analysis reveals a lack of considerable positive results confirming the validity of introduction of customs audit as a business activity. The authors establish that the best decision at the moment would be the creation of a separate public authority engaged in customs audit. This would allow the workload of customs authorities in goods post-clearance control to be redistributed, and would ensure a wide use of authentic audit reports made by officials in categorizing the participants of foreign trade activities and granting them various simplifications and preferences. It would also expand the necessary cooperation between authorities and participants of foreign trade activities, realizing the principles of the single window system, and could eventually help replace the desk customs inspection.

FINANCE AND TECHNOLOGY: KEY CHALLENGES FACED BY SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SMES) IN OMAN

Purpose: The objectives of the study were to critically investigate the challenges faced by SMEs; to analyze SMEs difficulties during adopting new technologies and to critically investigate the difficulties in the form of policies and procedures.
 Design/methodology/approach: For this research study, purposive sampling methodology was adopted. Using a well-defined questionnaire, 257 samples were collected from all over Oman. The data collected was recorded, tabulated, summarized and the tests – Chi-square tests, Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests and regression analysis were carried to obtain the results.
 Findings: The study reveals that most of the respondents got delay in the commencement of business due to lack of finance. It is also revealed that the SMEs are in dire need of technical support at the time of commencement of their businesses and need support to establish IT infrastructure.
 Research limitations/Implications: The study suggests that the adequate support from General Authority for SMEs can change the scenario of setting up of the SMEs in a smooth transition and the interim advances by the financial institutions can help them avoid time lag.
 Social implications: The study suggests that the Governmental authority should monitor and follow up SMEs to avoid the SME units becoming sick and provide technical support, guidance and nurse the units, if they become sick. Also, the licensing for the SME units should be made easier through single window system.
 Originality/Value: Only a very few have examined the main challenges faced by SMEs in Oman. Our study includes selected samples of SMEs and not the micro enterprises. The study can further be extended to all the MSMEs in all the regions / Governorates of Oman.

Cross-Border Paperless Trade: from Concept to Reality

Abstract.- Paperless trade is the practice and interchange of electronic data and commercial documents to support the trade transaction mechanism. This domain has aimed at facilitating the electronic exchange of information along international supply chains in regional trade initiatives. The paper attempts to provide an analysis by examining ’Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-Border Paperless Trade in Asia and The Pacfic’. The research paper also highlights the trade facilitation initiative of UNESCAP and trade facilitation agreement of WTO. Bangladesh ratified this agreement on 2 September 2016 as the 94th member of the WTO and 12th amongst the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Considering the [act the paper analyzes the probable impact o[ entering into the agreement o[ cross border paperless trade agreement o[ UNESCAP. The research paper also attempts to show the status o[trade [acilitation implementation measures, taken by Bangladesh Government and highlights TF initiatives like Single Window System (SWS), Container Management System (CTM), ASYCUDA World The paper also summarized with recommendation of signing the framework agreement at Bangladesh part in talnng part of increasing its international trade transactions. Emphasizing the importance of cross-border paperless trade, Bangladesh may take necessary steps to way forward and consider the agreement favorably.

New Digital Infrastructure, Cross-Border E-Commerce and Global Vision of Creating Electronic World Trade Platform

The rapid development of cross-border e-commerce has integrated with the global economy more closely in the past decade. How to create global digital customs to facilitate cross-border e-commerce on the basis of national Single Window system has become an important task for national governments and international organizations such as World Customs Organizations? The article aims to explore the relationship between technological progress, cross-border e-commerce and the establishment of global digital customs from the dimensions of the latest development of new digital infrastructure, national Single Window system and global vision of creating Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP). It is argued that cross-border e-commerce platforms, national Single Window and eWTP, all of which are indispensable for the establishment of global digital customs, have close linkages in business regulation, data sharing and information exchange. The establishment of global digital customs requires global governance through the joint efforts by firms, national governments and international organizations.

Interagency Coordination in the Implementation of Single Window: Lessons and Good Practice From Korea

A single window is an organic mix of the collaborative efforts of all the parties involved in a nation’s international trade activities. For most customs administrations, implementing a single window is a pressing project, which may take several years in planning and developing, while involving many stakeholders, including those from the public and private sectors. The biggest issue in securing a single window is interagency collaboration and coordination in the area of public administration. This paper traces the development of the single window system in Korea, using it as a case study to highlight the need for improved and institutionalised interagency coordination to promote its development. The research has developed a preliminary typology of interagency coordination to gain insights into how interagency coordination is established and maintained. It also offers some practical ideas for policy makers and project managers.

IMPLEMENTATION OF UKRAINE'S WORLD EXPERIENCE INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR CARRIAGE TRANSPORTATION

Topicality. The functioning of international merchant shipping and the practice of international trade in goods are interrelated at different levels - from historical to the level of a separate treaty. Here, contracts for the purchase and sale of goods, transportation, insurance, financing, transport and warehouse documents of title are intertwined and interact. The necessary degree of awareness in these issues is an indispensable condition for both successful business activity and for solving the problems of unification of maritime and commercial law. Also the urgency of the organizing problems of electronic trade by shipping services of shipping lines and their agents through the internal brands, Intranet and the Internet and ways of their overcoming are considered. Aim and tasks. International cargo transportation is a really confusing business through its customers, partners and employees, which are scattered around the world. Today's information technology has become a focal point for shipowners in order to gain a competitive edge over their rivals by choosing and setting the right partners in their rapidly expanding and timely transmission of information and interactive communication between their partners in the value chain (see Porter's Value Chain). network of value creation. As the international marketing concept develops, companies recognize that the real value creation requires intensive interaction between the internal (employees in a number of departments) and external players and clients as a result of partnership, a flexible value chain. The speediness of the delivery of goods depends on the extent to which all participants in the logistics processes (commercial organizations and state regulatory bodies) were able to make the transition from paper technologies to electronic technologies. The use of paper documents in parallel with the electronic several times increases the time of registration at all stages of the movement of goods. Research results.The central theme in trade facilitation is the reduction of bureaucratic restrictions for the movement of goods across borders. Why ask commercial operators to submit about thirty documents to forty different agencies with often repeated information? To reduce these formalities, collect information necessary for controlling bodies as quickly and easily as possible - this is the essence of trade facilitation. Simplification and reduction of the required procedures, data and documents, their harmonization with international standards, computerization of documents and foreign trade processes will significantly accelerate the movement of goods and information about them across borders. Approximately 40 years ago, US experts calculated that eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic procedures and paper flows would reduce the cost of trade operations by 7% in the US, and this was always a very large amount that the society simply lost because of insufficiently streamlined processes. The Single Window system has already been implemented in many countries, such as Japan, Singapore, Sweden, the United States and Senegal. Conclusion. The proposal was accompanied by information that in existing national laws and international conventions there are significant gaps regarding the functioning of bills of lading and sea waybills, the connection of these transport documents with the rights and obligations of the seller and buyer of goods, the legal status of entities providing financing to one of the parties to the contract of carriage Cargo. In some states there is a regulatory framework for these issues, but it is not uniform. And in many states there is no regulatory framework in this sphere at all. This circumstance is an obstacle to the free movement of goods and increases the value of transactions. The widespread use of electronic means of communication in the transport of goods further exacerbates the consequences of the fragmentation and non-unification of various laws and leads to the need to develop uniform provisions on specific issues related to the use of the applied technologies.

Міжнародні стандарти системи «єдине вікно» для зовнішньої торгівлі

The present article provides the judicial review of the international standards on the building of the Single Window system for customs as the effective means of trade facilitation. The emphasis is placed on the instruments drafted within frameworks of three basic rule-making centres in the field, which are represented by the World Trade Organization, the World Customs Organization and the UN European Economic Commission. While the primary international instruments, like WCO Kyoto Convention or WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement merely provides general standards for efficient implementation of automated customs clearance, the much more expeditionary guidance for building up a Single Window can be retrieved from a soft law sources. The latter in forms of recommendations and best practices are typically generated by the WCO and UN/CEFACT. The possible types of the Single Window system are characterized with respect to the integration stages of the specific functions of different state agencies and the involving of private entities. The typology includes such forms as: paperless customs, Regulatory Single Window, Port Single Window, Fully Integrated Single Window, Cross-Border Single Window Exchange Platform. The interconnection between Single Window technologies and reform of customs and border procedures is equally determined. Expressly the implementation of Single Window has implications both for internal and external procedures of border authorities that include initiating the transformation of internal decision-making processes and promotion of external integration of the various public authorities responsible for border management.

Digital Resources Management: The Role of the National Digital Library

ICT has changed the traditional concept of the library. The role of the digital library in collecting varied resources has given a new dimension in the library services. Adding to this concept, the major role of the National Digital Library of India in collecting the digital resources and providing them through a single window system is a remarkable achievement. It is helpful in the teaching-learning process and promotes research and development. Now-a-day, Libraries are more powerful, dynamic and reach before the users easily without any geographical restrictions. Libraries are fast moving in this Internet era from the manual mode of action to digital access. In this direction, the use of communication technologies has redesigned the library services to the borderless world and has become the lifeblood for the users’ community. In this context, the aim of this paper is to establish the importance and different roles of the national digital library in preserving and disseminating the digital resources for the academic excellence and research growth.

Перспективы развития «Единого окна» в сфере внешней торговли в Кыргызской Республике

The article considers issues of the prospective development
 of the «single window system» in the foreign arena of the Kyrgyz
 Republic. The main directions and methods to improve the
 system and tentative implementation results are considered. The
 successful implementation of this system will expand the scope of
 foreign trade of the Kyrgyz Republic, which is the current task of
 an adaptation in the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as interaction
 with the «Silk Road Economic Belt» project.

Parallel Database for Student Counselling through Single Window System for Admission in Engineering Colleges

Nowadays, the growth of the educational sector generates massive data such as details of students, staff and their academic performance, administrative and research details, etc. These data are stored in distributed databases. The parallel database performs parallel query processing hence, the query processing time is reduced and throughput for the transaction processing is improved. The parallel database system also improves the performance by employing parallelism through various database management operations such as loading the data, building indexes, and evaluating queries. The data is partitioned and placed across multiple disks for parallel input and output (I/O) operation to achieve parallelism on queries using pipeline parallelism. The individual relational operations such as sort, join, aggregation, etc. are executed in parallel database by each processor that works independently with its own partition. Queries are expressed in high level language such as structured query language (SQL) that are translated into relational algebra for query processing. Thus, the parallel database increases the throughput in database management and reduces the query processing time. This paper presents a parallel database for student counselling for engineering university admission using MySQL relational database management system.

Design of a single window system for e-government services: the chilean case

The single window concept refers to systems that allow organizations to provide one-stop services to users. This paper describes a model for the design of a single window system in the context of e-government. The model determines which government service procedures should be incorporated into the system, which technology should be used to execute each procedure and the time in the planning horizon at which technology upgrades and incorporation processes should take place, while maximizing the total social benefit associated with these decisions. The proposed model, a mixed integer linear program, is applied to the particular problem faced by the government of Chile a few years ago. The solution generated by the model for this instance is compared to that obtained through the Chilean government's own method for prioritizing the inclusion of procedures into its single window system. When the proposed model was limited to choosing 60 procedures, the number chosen by the Chilean government's method, the solution produced 1.6 times more benefits. With the limit on the number of procedures removed but considering a budget constraint, the model chose 111 procedures that generated 1.85 times more social benefits than those procedures chosen using the government's method.

Addressing the Challenges Facing the Use of E-Signatures Within the ASEAN Single Window

On December 2005, the ASEAN member states passed the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) Agreement which paved the way for the implementation of a regional single window system that would integrate the members’ National Single Window (NSW) systems. This regional system is expected to facilitate trade within the ASEAN Economic Community. However, the successful operation of these systems largely depends the presence of a legal framework that would support the cross-jurisdictional recognition of members’ electronically authenticated documents that are exchanged between the NSWs and ASW. This article explores the role of e-signatures in single window operation, and assesses the challenges facing the cross-jurisdictional recognition of e-signatures under the ASW.

Managing the Risk of Corruption in Customs Through Single Window Systems

Corruption has hampered the efficiency of customs administrations in many developing countries. However, the problem has taken on a new dimension in the 21st century following the rise in international terrorism. Criminal corruption at border points, where criminal operators offer bribes to customs officials to allow them to smuggle arms and other illegal substances, has posed a great risk to both the internal and international security of many countries. This paper examines how single window systems can be used as a tool to combat customs corruption. It analyses the various facets of customs corruption and discusses its impact on the affected countries. The paper then takes an economic approach to understanding the root cause of customs corruption by following Klitgaard’s 1988 analytical framework which states that corruption flourishes in situations where agents have monopoly power over clients, where agents have great discretion, and where accountability of agents to the principal is weak. The paper concludes by evaluating how single window systems can be used to combat customs corruption. It outlines several case studies including the Philippine Bureau of Customs, Georgia Customs and Qatar Customs where the automation of customs processes was credited with reducing corruption in the bureaus. The discussions in this paper aim to show how single window systems can be used as a tool to eliminate customs corruption which has far-reaching consequences.

Increasing Africa’s Share of Vertical Investments through Single Window Systems

AbstractThe growth of international trade in recent years has highlighted the importance of customs authorities as the gateway to the global market. However, border delays and inefficiencies resulting from cumbersome documentation requirements have disrupted the flow of goods and acted as a non-tariff barrier to international trade in many African countries. Additionally, these same deficiencies have interrupted the inward flow of vertical Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). When searching for suitable locations to establish manufacturing plants, foreign investors place emphasis on a number of factors such as the cost of exporting, expediency of importing time sensitive production inputs and distance to target markets. Customs efficiency plays a major role in positively influencing these factors and hence forms a crucial part of any investment decision. This article examines the negative impact of inefficient border procedures on vertical FDI inflows to Africa. The article recommends the implementation of single window systems as an investment facilitation tool.

Service-oriented computing and model-driven development as enablers of port information systems: an integrated view

Port information management is considered a critical instrument towards enabling international transport and trade; thus, various forms of Port Information Systems (PORTIS) have been developed today, namely Port Community Systems, Terminal Operating Systems and Single Window systems. In Europe, the nautical information system SafeSeaNet is viewed as an important e-infrastructure. PORTIS systems are expected to evolve into next-generation technological platforms in order to offer a fully integrated digital environment to a multitude of maritime business actors and public authorities towards more efficient, safe and environment-aware transport and trade infrastructures and services. We propose service-oriented computing and model-driven development techniques as a robust PORTIS modelling and development approach. We present a reference model of PORTIS and a particular enabling methodological and technological framework. The proposed approach has been tested in a maritime single-window case.

E-commerce development experiences in world's leading container ports and offering a model for Shahid Rajaee Port

In order to develop e-commerce in Iran's maritime transportation sector and make the necessary planning for development of e-commerce at Shahid Rajaee Port, experiences in the world's leading container ports are being studied. In this research, the existing scientific IT models and logistical communications are put together while Shahid Rajaee Port undergoes scrutiny to reach a model of e-commerce development and single window system. This model could set the example for other container ports in Iran to follow.