Jamaica Implementing Single Window for Trade

Jamaica is implementing a single window for trade, which will greatly enhance the way in which goods and services are imported into and exported out of the island.

The Jamaica Electronic Single Window Project, which will be rolled out by the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) over the next 36 months, will provide one entry point for all import, export and transit-related regulatory requirements, as a means of improving connectivity between port and terminal operators, customs offices, other regulatory agencies, and traders.

It will allow importers and exporters to lodge documents electronically and facilitate the exchange of information between government agencies and traders. It will reduce traders’ points of contact from as many as five entities to one single agency, and save time and costs to carry out transactions.

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, said that the Electronic Single Window Project represents an important element of Jamaica’s trade facilitation programme, which is geared towards increasing revenue collection and reducing cost and clearance time for goods.

. “It will see the efficient use of our resources as we streamline our business processes and procedures; transparency of our processes through the availability of accurate, reliable and timely information; and improve conditions for doing business, leading to improved competiveness,” he noted.

Mr. Shaw was speaking at the opening of a two-day mobilisation seminar for the project on Wednesday (September 5) at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

He added that the project builds on the architecture of the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) “from which we have already derived significant improvements, including reduced cost and clearance times, increased revenue collection and accurate and timely provision of international trade statistics”.

ASYCUDA facilitates the electronic submission of customs declarations and shipping manifests.

Minister Shaw said he believes that this project will improve the delivery of services offered by the JCA and will allow customers to receive and send goods faster.

Chief Executive Officer, JCA and Commissioner of Jamaica Customs, Velma Ricketts Walker, informed that the project was launched in-house on August 2.

She said that the agency “is proud to be a part of this national initiative and is even more energised and excited to be the lead implementation agency for the project as well as the Electronic Single Window Operator”.

She added that “this role is relevant as we seek to improve and enhance the ease of doing business, the efficiency of cross-border trade and the agility of the Government of Jamaica’s growth”.

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Fayval Williams, for her part, said that the Government has taken a proactive approach in implementing the Electronic Single Window Project.

“I applaud the role of the Jamaica Customs Agency as the lead implementation agency, and I applaud, as well, the work of the Trade Facilitation Task Force in taking this Electronic Single Window Project closer to reality,” Mrs. Williams said.

The mobilisation seminar, which concludes on September 6, will examine the ASYCUDA World System, the Role of the Trade Facilitation Task Force, Global Trends on Trade Facilitation and Jamaica’s Position, and the International Legal Framework for Single Window.