By Ifeyinwa Obi

COMMITTED towards modernizing its operations, the Nigerian Customs Service, (NCS) has launched the single-window e-services with a view to accelerating higher efficiency aimed at trade facilitation.

The Deputy Public Relations Officer, Nigerian Customs, Abuja Bello Abdulkareem in a statement said that numerous benefits abound to a single-window system for both the government and the private actors.

Abdulkareem said: “For the government, the employment of a single-window system means there will be more effective and efficient allocation of resources as well as higher revenue generation. The single-window will also lead to an increase in trader compliance, enhanced national security, integrity and transparency of the systems.

“For the private sector, the single-window will lead to a faster clearance and release of goods and services which in turn leads to a decrease in costs of importation by reducing delays. It will also create a better business environment by yielding a predictable application and explanation of rules.”

The practical goal of single-window is to expedite and simplify the flow of information between traders and government. It enables the relevant authorities and agencies to have access to all information for their purposes.

According to him, the single-window phenomenon as introduced by the Nigerian Customs Service is to genuinely create a “one-stop-shop” for Nigerians doing international trade and business.

The success of this unique project, he said lies not only with the Nigerian Customs Service as a lead agency but with the government and other stake holders in international trade and business.

“There must be absolute commitment to the tenets of the single-window project as practiced in other climes of the world. That is the only way to nurture, sustain and justify the existence of this noble project” he explained.

By definition, the World Customs Organization (WCO), World Trade Organization (WTO) and various governmental and international organizations devoted to trade facilitation in a consensus opinion defined single-window as “a cross-border intelligence facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardized information and documents with a single entry point to fulfill all import, export and transit related regulatory requirements”.

Historically, the concept of a single-window was developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and countries in other jurisdictions.