India

India hereby makes the following notification in accordance with Article 10.4 of the Trade Facilitation Agreement:

As part of the "Ease of Doing Business" initiatives, Government of India has taken up implementation of the Single Window Project to facilitate the Trading Across Borders in India. The Single Window Interface for Facilitation of Trade (SWIFT) is the system through which India has implemented the "single window". SWIFT allows importers and exporters the facility to lodge their clearance documents online at a single point only. Required permission, if any, from other regulatory agencies is obtained online without the trader having to approach participating government agencies separately. SWIFT has streamlined the entire process of clearance of consignments and has significantly reduced the interface between trade and the regulatory agencies. Further information about SWIFT can be obtained at: https://www.icegate.gov.in/SWIFT/.

Some of the core facilities that have been provided under Single Window through SWIFT are as follows:

i. Integrated Declaration: Traders will submit Integrated Import & Export Declarations that will contain clearance related information required by all Participating Government Agencies (PGAs). Separate forms/ declarations have been dispensed with Integrated Declaration is implemented with the major import regulatory agencies which are involved in issuing clearances or "No Objection Certificates" for live consignments i.e. post import have been brought under the ambit of a single import declaration and the online clearance facility.

ii. Integrated Risk Assessment: All Participating Government Agencies (PGAs) will use an automated system to apply the principles of risk-based selectivity for carrying out inspection and testing. Indian customs already had a functional Risk Management System for risk based selective interdiction of consignments. Now under Integrated Risk Management System, risk criteria of major import/export regulatory agencies in India for interdiction, sampling and testing of consignments system is also integrated with the system.

iii. Automated Routing: The system applies business rules to identify consignments based on the declaration to automatically route them to the relevant PGAs.

iv. Online Clearance: The system records and collates clearance related decisions and approvals from all relevant PGAs and delivers the results to the trader at a single point. A system of online release of consignments with the major import/export regulatory PGAs is operational.

Paperless processing: A system that allows a trader to submit all supporting documents for clearance of consignments electronically with digital signatures. By doing this, trader does not have to approach to different regulatory agencies with hardcopy of documents thereby making entire process of consignment clearance faceless and paperless.