Single window is primarily a service for business
Development of interaction between Single Window mechanisms in the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) was discussed at the international seminar held in Kyrgyzstan from 31 May to 1 June 2017.
The event was initiated by the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).
In his welcoming speech, the Member of the Board - Minister in charge of Customs Cooperation of the EEC, Mukai Kadyrkulov, commented briefly on the stages of creating the Single Window carried out by the EAEU countries.
"We have examined the current state of development of the mechanism in the EAEU countries,” the EEC Minister said. “The task was to determine at what stage the Single Window project is now in our countries, and what to do for its further development and synchronization in the Union. Now on the basis of this analysis, a "reference model" of the Single Window system is being developed.” We fundamentally agreed upon development of a "reference model" yet at the stage of the origin of the idea about implementing the Single Window mechanism in the foreign economic activity management system of our countries.”
The "reference model" will become a common reference point for the further development of national Single Windows. This is to ensure that, in future, national mechanisms can communicate between each other. The model is expected to be provided by the end of 2017.
"The issue of developing the Single Window is relevant for the last ten years,” Mukai Kadyrkulov said. “However, if earlier, such platforms were seen as a way to optimize the work of state regulatory authorities, today the main "customer" of the mechanism is business. Business is the driving force behind the economic development of the state. Therefore, when developing a "reference model" we focus on the business community requests, for which the Single Window should become a convenient, reliable service.”
The purpose of the international seminar was to raise awareness of experts from the Member States and the Commission of existing international agreements, recommendations and standards, the exchange of experience on organization of communication within the Single Window systems in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as to elaborate proposals for the development of such interaction among national Single Window systems of the Union Member States.
Workshop materials can be found on the page of the EEC Customs division.
Press-release at the official Eurasian Economic Commission web-site