Trade Board Increases Contact With Stakeholders Through Online Platform

The Trade Board Limited (TBL) says it is increasing its engagement with stakeholders, following the recent implementation of its online export and import facilitation platform in June this year.

The platform was executed under the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce (MIIC) initiative – Jamaica Single Window for Trade (JSWIFT).

JSWIFT is a one-stop shop facility designed to provide fully automated services to enable traders and their representatives to transact all attendant business online through a single portal.

Speaking at a recently held Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank, Trade Administrator and Chief Executive Officer of the TBL, Douglas Webster, said the organisation’s efforts are critical to receiving buy-in to the platform.

“There has been a robust platform for sensitisation and learning, including YouTube training videos and step-by-step guides, as we want to encourage our trading communities and external publics to make fuller and better usage of these facilities,” he said.

JSWIFT is implemented, hosted and operated by the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA), on behalf of the Government of Jamaica.

Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the JCA and JWIFT Project Manager, André Williams, told JIS News that more than 600 persons have participated in the training sessions, which are aimed at familiarising users with the platform.

“We are providing the information through multiple means. We have a YouTube channel, videos with user guides as well as e-learning environment. We will engage persons individually or as a part of the group training session,” he said.

Mr. Williams added that there has been a marked reduction in the errors in applications sent by the stakeholders, such as customs brokers and car dealers, since the start of the engagement sessions.

“There has been a significant decrease in terms of the level of inaccuracies, such as a proper description of motor vehicles. What we are seeing is that as persons get more familiar, their submission process gets a lot easier and you see a volume of applications shortly after,” he said.

Persons interested can access tutorials for the TBL on the YouTube channel, JSWIFT Learning.

The TBL is the first Cross-Border Regulatory Agency to pilot the full-scale implementation of JSWIFT with the integration of export facilitation services done in June and the incorporation of import facilitation services in July.