Second virtual meeting of the “Project Steering Committee” on the implementation of the “National Single Window” (NSW) Project
Dili, Tuesday, February 15th, 2021 – The Ministry of Finance, represented by the Vice Minister of Finance, Mrs Sara Lobo Brites, chaired a virtual meeting of the “Project Steering Committee” (PSC) in which also participated the coordinator of the ASYCUDA/UNCTAD program for the Asian Region, as well as general directors and national directors, to analyse the National Single Window System’s implementation progress.
The Single Window System (SWS) was approved through a Resolution of the Council of Ministers, in May 2017, and from that decision, the SWS program began to be implemented in December 2019, with the aim of using the ASYCUDA World System as a platform to facilitate commercial activities, in an automated way, that is, so that the entire process is carried out directly in the digital system, reducing the use of paper, promoting the efficiency and transparency, and also ensuring that all processes are carried out in real time and faster. Many countries already use the Single Window system because it greatly facilitates trade relations with trading partners, within the country and also at regional level.
The implementation of the Single Window System is an important progress for the Customs Authority and the Ministry of Finance, under the fiscal reform and public finance management programme initiated by the 6th Government, and which the 8th Government is committed to further boosting.
The SWS (Single Window) will connect the Customs Authority to the ministerial lines, agencies and public institutes of the State that deal with people or goods movements, including the Tax Authority, Immigration, Quarantine, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Transports and Telecommunications, the Ministry of Tourism, Commerce and Industry, Trade Invest, and the Port Authority. The connection system that will be applied in public administration services will reduce delays and transaction costs, including the customs clearance period at land borders, ports and airports, thus facilitating the companies work. The Single Window System will also help the Government, through the Ministry of Finance, to collect revenue in fairer and transparent way.
The advances in the implementation of SWS can be evidenced by the integration of Trade Invest in ASYCUDA World, which was launched on February 1st, 2021 by the Minister of Finance, Rui Augusto Gomes, and by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Joaquim Amaral.
At the meeting, the plans to be implemented over a period of 48 months were discussed. According to this plans, there will be two phases:
First phase: Connection to 8 Government Agencies and also with Bolloré, the future operator of the Port of Tíbar; and
Second phase: connection to trading partners countries, such as Indonesia and Brazil, as a member of the CPLP (Community of the Portuguese Language Countries). This connection is also part of the ASEAN’s membership criteria.
National Single Window is a portal of the Customs Authority (CA) where users can submit documents related to imports and exports, through the Single Window portal. This portal will have a direct connection with the institutions involved in commercial activities, taxes, goods, immigration, quarantine, transports, fisheries, livestock and will also allow connection to the Commercial Bank’s transactions.
On a quarterly basis, the Ministry of Finance, through the Customs Authority (CA) and the UNCTAD team, analyse the development of ASYCUDA World, as a platform for the Single Window project, updating information and following up on issues relevant to the program’s implementation.
Soon, the Customs Authority will make a direct connection with National Directorate of Land Transportation, Quarantine, Immigration, and Health, integrating these services also on the ASYCUDA World platform.
This meeting was attended by the Vice Minister of Finance, Sara Lobo Brites, as chairman of the Steering Committee, Director José A.F. Abílio, as a member of the Steering Committee, Marianne Dumont, as coordinator of the ASYCUDA / UNCTAD Asia-level Program, and Saeid Yarandi, as a resident specialist at ASYCUDA.
