Trade Facilitation Agreement Single Window

The second step is the National Single Window, which connects customs automation and interfaces with other government authorities. This creates a single platform for the exchange of information between the business community and the government. The degree of complexity of this second stage varies from country to country. For example, in some countries, integration is broadening to connect actors in the business community such as road hauliers, banks and countries. Most of the priorities relate to Articles 7 and 10. This indicates that countries wish to apply provisions that, regardless of the complexity of implementation, promise the greatest improvements in trade costs. For example, streamlining procedures – including the creation of a single window – could reduce trade costs by 2.8%, while automating procedures could reduce trade costs by 2.4%, according to an OECD study on trade facilitation indicators14 In particular, the single window solution offers an important long-term promise, but difficult to implement – Brazil believes that it takes a great deal of effort to multiply them for four years. The implementation of trade facilitation is a greater challenge for the least developed countries than for the developing countries. In a 2013 survey of 26 countries, which measured the degree of implementation of the TFA and other topics, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) found that one of the reasons countries do not implement trade facilitation measures is their lack of awareness of the potential benefits.8 . . .