NSW TO BE OPERATIONAL IN AUGUST

The National Single Window (NSW) is expected to be fully operational in August this year, the assistant controller of the Royal Customs and Excise Department said yesterday.

Through a national single window, traders electronically submit forms for export, import, and transit procedures only once, and they are processed and cleared by multiple government agencies in a single integrated process.

Some components of the national single window have been made available online for viewing and registration purposes, said Hj Yassin HjIbrahim, the department's assistant controller.

As part of efforts to implement the ASEAN Single Window (ASW), the department has been looking into ways to automate several approval processes which do not require "multi-agency interference".

ASEAN members agreed in 2011 to establish their respective national single windows by 2012 and to connect them through a regional single window, a cornerstone of establishing the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

Depending on the type of imported goods, around 20 government agencies are currently involved in clearance control, said Hj Yassin HjIbrahim.

"We plan to fully automate certain kind of importations which do not require the intervention of multiple government agencies. For instance, goods with minimum value such as newspapers," he told The Brunei Times after a briefing on the National Single Window at the Ministry of Finance yesterday.

Courtesy of The Brunei Times.
Read more: The Brunei Times