Trade Facilitation
Trade Facilitation is the simplification, harmonisation, standardisation, and modernisation of trade procedures in the interests of reducing transaction costs in international trade, especially those between government and business. Trade Facilitation looks at how procedures and controls governing the movement of goods across national borders can be improved to reduce associated cost burdens and maximise efficiency while safeguarding regulatory objectives.
Trade Facilitation Challenges
Companies involved in international trade have to prepare and submit large volumes of information to several authorities to comply with trade requirements.
These documents are usually submitted in various formats, to multiple disparate systems across agencies. The requirements and associated compliance costs represent a burden to both governments and the trading community, with the complexity of the processes presenting a barrier to the development of international trade.
The Single Window Approach, an important building block for the realisation of the Trade Facilitation Goal, provides a solution for this challenge.
Single Window Approach
Single Window facilitates trade by making cross-border communication of information and its effective use easier for businesses and governments. It enables parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardised information and documents with a single entry point to fulfill all import, export, and transit-related requirements.
Putting a Single Window in place usually involves meeting the different, often overlapping requirements (manual or automated) of the variety of agencies that can interrupt international supply chains.
The benefits that can be seen by adopting a Single Window approach include increased compliance efficiency, reductions in non-tariff barriers to trade as well as a general reduction in costs and burdens on both business and governments.
Crown Agents Single Window Approach
Single Window, a simple, effective solution provides significant value to international trade, whilst realising that value is the challenge.
The Crown Agents' Single Window Roadmap - a multi-phased approach, helps define the path from strategy confirmation through to value creation - recognising the needs of all stakeholders.
TRIPS™ Single Window
Crown Agents' TRIPS™ Single Window solution will provide an integrated IT workspace, which interconnects all systems of trade and transport organisations involved in trade transactions. This ensures that all trade-related documents and/or information is submitted once only to interested and authorised parties, at a single point of entry, to fulfill all import, export and transit-related requirements.
This seamless electronic processing of data enables data security, simplification, an expedient service, harmonisation, transparency, predictability and a level playing field for all trade stakeholders.
TRIPS™ Single Window presents a practical application of trade facilitation concepts which allows government and business to discharge their responsibilities more cost-effectively, delivering immediate benefits to all members of the trading community, governments and the nation as a whole, whilst enhancing the nation's reputation as a place to do business and its international competitive advantage.
Why Crown Agents
Crown Agents appreciates the many customs and trade challenges governments face in today's global trade environment. We also understand that each of our clients is unique, and are able to adapt our approach to address individual requirements. At Crown Agents we believe that combining our international expertise and local knowledge with your practical experience allows us to achieve best results.
Crown Agents' Customs and Trade Facilitation experts assist public sector institutions with customs and trade development. We support governments worldwide to enhance trade facilitation through customs reform, modernisation and capacity building programmes.
Through close collaboration and intensive support throughout the life of the project, Crown Agents transfers knowledge and skills to build organisation capacity and achieve integrated and sustainable results. We design and implement large and small scale programmes to address your priorities in the following key areas:
- Training and capacity building
- Needs analysis, strategic planning and change management
- Legislation, policy and procedures
- IT and technology
Crown Agents' long experience in Customs Modernisation and our ability to provide both Technical Assistance and IT solutions separately or together makes us your partner of choice for your Single Window projects.
TRIPS™ Single Window - Looking Beyond