The Cabinet will approve National Single Window (NSW) Bill 2020 of Ministry of Finance on Tuesday (March 31), official sources told Business Recorder.
As a signatory to the WTO's agreement on Trade Facilitation, Pakistan has notified establishment of ICT-based cross border trade related "National Single Window" (NSW) by February, 2022. The NSW is a facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardized information and documents with a single-entry point to fulfill all import, export and transit-related requirements.
Implementation of NSW comprehensively improves ease of doing business in management of imports, exports and transit trade which is an area where Pakistan has been lagging. After having been designated as the lead agency by the Prime Minister, Pakistan Customs has conducted various studies with help of international and local experts in consultation with various stakeholders in public and private sector.
A detailed project design document was approved by high level steering committee under chairmanship of the Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue in August 2019.
This design document recommended promulgation of a new law based on detailed legal gap analysis of existing laws and regulations related to cross border trade, most of which were found to be antiquated. The analysis also covered aspects provided in the approved governance, operation, revenue and functional models for PSW as well as in the checklist provided in the UN/CEFACT's recommendation number 35 for establishing a legal framework for international trade single window.
Pakistan Customs accordingly drafted PSW Act in compliance with the sub-rule 1 of rule 8 and sub-rule 18 of the Rules of Business, 1973 completed the consultative process with relevant Ministries and department. This process included circulation of the draft law, conducting a workshop, holding meetings, incorporating various suggestions and changes and keeping the draft law posted on FBR's website.
The ECC of the Cabinet considered a summary moved by the FBR for approval of PSW Bill in its meeting held on December 12, 2019. The ECC recommended submission of Bill before the Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases (CCLC) for consideration. The CCLC had approved the summary on March 12, 2020 for subsequent presentation the federal Cabinet.