Pakistan Single Window: 155 paper-based documents replaced with electronic submissions

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Single Window (PSW) Wednesday informed Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb that 155 paper-based documents have been replaced with electronic submissions with elimination of 55 documents during clearances of imports and exports.

The Finance Minister has also been informed that under the business process reforms of the PSW, 96 paper-based documents have been replaced with electronic verifications under the PSW.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presided over the fourth meeting of the Governing Council (GC) of Pakistan Single Window (PSW) at Finance Division today. Secretary Commerce, Chairman FBR, Secretary to the Governing Council/Member Customs FBR, CEO PSW, experts from PSW GC and senior officers from other ministries attended the meeting.

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Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb has asked provinces to facilitate the Pakistan Single Window (PSW) to strengthen its outreach to facilitate the trade and business activities across Pakistan.

The Secretary to the Governing Council updated the Finance Minister on the implementation status of decisions taken in the last meeting. CEO PSW presented a comprehensive overview of the PSW system’s implementation and the execution of directives issued by the Governing Council. He provided the details of ongoing PSW projects, outlined performance benchmarks, and mentioned challenges encountered in implementation, requesting necessary interventions.

Acknowledging the efforts of PSW, the Finance Minister directed them to expedite the process of implementation. He underscored the need to ensure the involvement of all stakeholders including provinces and prioritize the security of the system. Furthermore, the Federal Minister reaffirmed the Government’s support for the reforms initiated under the PSW program and directed PSW to strengthen its outreach to facilitate the trade and business activities across Pakistan.

According to sources, the PSW is working on a plan to revise the whole transit trade regime applicable for different countries. Instead of different transit trade regimes for different countries, there should be a uniform cross-border trade procedure to facilitate traders under the transit regime.

A study through the international consultant would streamline the whole transit system. Safeguards would be put to check smuggling and incidents of dropping of consignments through the transit system routes.

The PSW is connected with the “China International Trade Single Window” for future integration and exchange of data between Pakistan and China, eliminating chances of under-invoicing of the imported goods.

Haider stated that PSW is connected with the “China International Trade Single Window” for the integration of international data. “Technically, the PSW and China Single Window are connected and modalities are being finalised to specify the nature of data to be shared with each other.

Integration between the two single windows will expand the scope of the current data exchange to include full transmission of the Goods Declaration data, phyto-sanitary certificates, certificates of origin, and shipping and logistics data to enable execution of advanced risk management techniques and expeditious clearance of goods.

The single window does not only automate existing processes but also conducts an extensive business process reengineering exercise to eliminate redundant documents and processes. Under the system all trade-related documents are being standardised and made QR code enabled. Moreover, information requirements are also being harmonised.

In addition to digitising customs and other government agencies, the PSW programme also covers the port community systems, trade information portals, B2B transactions, digital payments etc to cover the entire supply chain.

The PSW has been fully integrated with banks. Other departments integrated with the PSW include Department of Plant Protection, Animal Quarantine Department, Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department, Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority, Marine Fisheries Department; Sindh Excise, Taxation, and Narcotics Control Department; Pakistan Mercantile Marine Department, and Export Development Fund. During current year, the rollout of the DRAP has already started.

The integration of large organisations would be done in a phase-wise manner. The integration with the DRAP, TDAP, Board of Investment (BOI), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), and the Ministry of Interior will be carried out during the current year.

The importers are free to use any of the notified pre-inspection companies and treatment providers companies for agriculture imports and exports would also be digitised.

The actual impact of the single window is evident from the fact that the trader’s physical visits to the banks and other integrated departments has been totally eliminated, sources added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024