A Single Window — The Vision

1. A Single Window is a sole point of entry and access for official data related to international trade. The key benefits are:
   • improved performance by traders and thereby greater economic growth
   • enhanced security, and human, animal and plant health
   • greater integration of governmental processes and data
2. It is essential to minimise the barriers to legitimate trade in order to encourage exports and to maximise the UK’s role in international value chains. Cost-effective trade facilitation supports the UK’s objective to be the best place from which to do business. Therefore, traders need to be able to obtain and provide necessary official information with minimum effort and cost so that they can provide the best service to their customers and generate profitable and growing sales. In addition, those providing services to traders, such as the port authorities, require to be able to operate with speed, certainty and at a low total cost.
3. The government requires data about traders, their products and services, and their customers and suppliers, for reasons of security, revenue collection and protection, health, safety, legality, control and compliance, information and reporting (for UK , European and global purposes). Ideally, there would be a unique and accurate, cost-effective record of all traders, products and services traded, and of countries, customers and suppliers with whom we do business, from which all data would first be sought, and through which any additional questions would be addressed. This would enhance the speed and quality of implementing measures at our borders while minimising the total costs to all.
4. The Vision is of a standard, easy-to-use, low cost means of providing data to the authorities once and accurately about:
   • the identity of the trader ( and where appropriate his agents, financial intermediaries, transporters, etc.)
   • the goods and services being exported or imported
   • the countries, customers and suppliers involved

   Such Master Data would be entered once by the trader, automatically verified, and communicated to all legitimate authorities. Security, legality and confidentiality are important; but traders do not object to the data being shared among official bodies, subject to guarantees, provided the efficiency and cost benefits are realised for them. Traders would therefore agree in advance to the data being held and used officially and securely, and in return would have their information and authorisation expedited.

   Specific Transactions (export or import shipments) would therefore be simpler and quicker to enter and communicate to all via the Single Window because the master data about the participants, products and services would already have been verified by all. It would be possible for a trader to wait until there is a particular transaction being undertaken before notifying the Single Window, but this will take longer.

5. The current approach of each government department and agency collecting its own data at points of entry and elsewhere is disjointed, uncertain and costly. Current UK Single Window initiatives promise no early remedy because they are being undertaken largely by individual departments within each one’s particular objectives and budgetary constraints. Therefore our traders suffer disadvantages compared with our best competitors who are already benefiting from Single Window developments.

   With an effective Single Window, government departments and agencies would have been able to receive and provide most information relevant to each trader and his activities from the master data in advance of the particular export or import. Such a Single Window would reduce the total cost not only to the trader, but also to each department, and thereby to the government as a whole, for their operations and notably for their computer systems and data management. The lack of a Single Window makes it more difficult to implement new health, security and other requirements quickly and cost-effectively.

6. As an interim solution, it could be practicable to extend and develop current and proposed HM Customs systems from which other government departments could receive many of their requirements. It is nevertheless vital to agree now our medium-term objectives and solutions and to benefit both traders and government as quickly as is practicable.
7. The Principles to follow are:
   • Agree effective central ownership of the Single Window project
   • Define key objectives for all parties, including outcomes, data usage, and required speed, certainty and total cost
   • Define data collection, processing, analyses, retention and dissemination
   • Agree joint business processes and value chains including the optimum degree of simplification and standardisation
   • Identify value chain participants and locations, products and services via unique, standard global coding (EAN)
   • Define security and integrity requirements
   • Define facilities and infrastructure required by all participants
   • Confirm costs and benefits
   • Structure and collect master data
   • Pre-align master data among participants
   • Undertake evolutionary prototyping at a particular port before building and introducing an all-encompassing system.

   These principles are common to most information systems. They would apply equally to an integrated system for undertaking trading/starting or expanding a business within the UK.

8. A good example of some of the key elements in the Single Window system is already in operation in the UK via SITPRO’s ElecTra. (This has now become the basis of the UN’s eDOCs system). ElecTra allows UK traders to complete and verify their trading documentation on-line, and then have these official UN documents communicated without delay by computer (EDI or Internet), or by paper, to the appropriate authorities, notably Customs, across the world. This maximises the likelihood of acceptance of the shipment. ElecTra can be incorporated within the Single Window.
9. In order to provide a cost-effective Single Window which meets the needs of traders, agents and government, there needs to be a strong overall ownership of both the vision and the realisation. This should come from the public sector and fully involve the trading community.

   Early action is vital to enhance and protect the UK’s role in the world economy, while also guarding the nation’s health and security.

Tom McGuffog/SITPRO

"A KISSable B.e.e"

SITPRO exists to ensure that the international trading process for UK businesses is simple, standard, speedy, certain, and low in total cost. SITPRO can do little about duties, taxes and other aspects of fiscal and social policy operated by governments throughout the world. We have no direct concern in the "fairness" of international tariffs and local subsidies which can sometimes be seen as protecting the developed countries against the less developed and vice versa.

Given legitimate fiscal regimes, SITPRO endeavours to define the most cost-effective way they should be run across the world, to the benefit first of British Traders, but ultimately to the advantage of the total global economy.

At first sight, this may seem rather a narrow, if not "mean", objective. However, if one accepts that the greatest good for the greatest number of people comes from people, firms and countries engaging in international trade by making and selling products for which they have a comparative advantage, it follows that they should be able to export and import in ways which are consistent, fast and cost-effective. This means that the total cost and time for getting goods to a customer should be at a predictable minimum. Therefore Customs authorities, Health and Safety inspectors, port authorities, freight forwarders, airlines and shipping fleets, etc, etc, should all be encouraged to adopt best practices in administration and value chain management.

Why?

Because in a world where most products are made from a variety of components or ingredients assembled from across the world, no country, and particularly the UK, wants to be at a comparative disadvantage because products take longer or cost more to be processed within its borders than by its competitors. Economic success derives from high customer service and low total cost, actively supporting the intrinsic desirability of the product or service.

How are these to be achieved?

In my publication "KISS — Keep it simple, standard, speedy and certain" (Published by e.centre 1999), I argued that a modern value chain could only achieve optimum speed, certainty and low total cost if joint processes among all participants were simplified and standardised. Furthermore, the greater the degree of simplification and standardisation, the easier it is to apply electronic communications among participants. Indeed, optimum speed, certainty and low total cost can only be realised by applying electronic business to simple, standard processes.

In my latest publication "B.e.e. — business enabled electronically" (Published by UK Partners for electronic business — SITPRO, APACS, DTI, e-envoy, e.centre, BSI and UKCeB,) I argue that business orientated standards for processes, data, codes, master data and messages are essential pre-requisites to the cost-effective application of e.business, irrespective of the technology. Given these, and the willingness by private and public organisations to collaborate and share data and decisions, e.business is necessary for economic success, though never sufficient of itself.

This is why SITPRO has developed ElecTra to allow UK businesses (and through the UN, all traders worldwide) to complete their training documents accurately and speedily on-line, and have these communicated worldwide in whatever form is most likely to be accepted immediately by the local authorities.

This is why SITPRO is encouraging the UK to complete the Single Window whereby all traders can electronically identify themselves, their goods and services, and their customers and suppliers, once to all authorities. This will ensure that our ports of entry and exit are not clogged by a variety of un-coordinated requests for data. The further benefit of a Single Window is that legitimate needs for data and for control can be met more quickly and cost-effectively than hitherto without damaging the customer service and profitability of legitimate business.

So, trade facilitation is alive and kicking via SITPRO, in the UK, and across the globe.