Starting from August 1, the “single window” procedure is used at the customs in Ukraine. The initiative of the Ministry of Finance to deploy the automated single-window process is aimed to significantly simplify and speed up the customs procedures. This shall make life easier for business and remove opportunities for corruption related to customs clearance.

Within a week the Ministry of Finance will inspect the single-window operation at the customs release and clearance points in Ukraine.

What was the problem?

• Interaction between the customs, other controlling authorities and companies was chaotic and did not have any system;

• Controlling authorities did not have any time limits in their work. This made the situation unclear for business and hindered the logistic processes significantly;

• The customs could not release goods without the approval of other controlling authorities. That led to delays in customs clearance and long waiting lines at the border check-points;

• There was no electronic data base containing requests of business to the controlling authorities – thus, it was impossible to monitor the activities of the controlling authorities and to prevent corruption.

Solution

The Ministry of Finance elaborated the concept of the automated system “Single Window”. This is a sophisticated tool meant to simplify customs clearance procedures and to reduce their number. The “Single Window” initiative is being implemented as a part of the comprehensive reform of the customs authorities in Ukraine.

What are the advantages?

• Significantly faster release procedures – from now on, the controlling authorities only have 4 hours to decide on the results of the control. If no decision is made within 4 hours, the rule of “silent consent” is applied, i.e. the system automatically considers the respective type of control successfully passed;

• Lower expenses for business – customs clearance will be faster and, accordingly, will incur less costs;

• Crackdown on corruption – the controlling authorities have less space for manipulations;

• Efficient distribution of resources – all consignments are now inspected simultaneously by all respective authorities.

The last necessary formality to complete by the Ministry of Finance was to approve the list of documents to be submitted for the respective type of control as well as the list of 192 customs clearance offices where the single-window procedure should be applied and 47 customs offices with the automated control of the turnover of radioactive stuff and nuclear materials. The approval of these documents made it possible to deploy the system on schedule starting from August 1.

What next?

The “Single Window” initiative is a part of the comprehensive reforms of the customs authorities in Ukraine. The next steps refer to the further implementation of the already adopted amendments aimed to improve the customs operations:

1.                      Implementation of the photo and video surveillance of customs clearance procedures. Result: tighter control over customs employees and removal of corruption;

2.                      Mobile groups and a coordination center for the control of customs operations have been put in place. Result: random checks by the mobile groups contribute to tackling corruption and reducing manipulations at the customs;

3.                      Automatic distribution of customs declarations for clearance. Result: customs employees won’t be able to manipulate documents and choose consignments for clearance at their own discretion. It shall contribute significantly to preventing corruption.

Additional information about “Single Window”:

• The “Single Window” system aims at establishing a single electronic data base enabling various controlling authorities and customs offices to automatically exchange data on consignments passing the border of Ukraine and on the results of their inspection;

• The “Single Window” system is being implemented in accordance with the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 364 dated May 25, 2016 “On selected issues related to the implementation of the “Single Window” procedure for customs, sanitary, epidemiological, veterinary, phytosanitary, ecological, radiological and other kinds of state control”;

• The above Decree also sets the procedure for information exchange between fiscal authorities, other state agencies and companies by using electronic data transfer tools.