Application for Licences, Certificates, Permits/Other
All movements of goods and means of transport across the border are subject to tariff and non-tariff
regulatory regimes. With the liberalization of trade, most traded goods in the world are not subject
to quantitative restrictions. However, there are still a variety of non-tariff restrictions imposed by
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national laws and international conventions. These restrictions impose conditions that must be met
before regulatory authorities allow imports, exports and transit. The conditions are often
documented and expressed in licences, permits, certificates and other documents stating that they
have been met in the context of transactions. In spite of the variety of goods that are subject to such
restrictions, use cases are very similar. The process includes: (i) application for
licences/permits/certificates/other;
(ii) pre-issuance verifications; (iii) transactional compliance
checks at import or export; and (iv) post-transactional compliance/analysis.
The broad process of application and issuance of licences, permits or certificates remains the same,
despite differences in regulations. These procedures vary for different commodities but have the
same underlying patterns. The table below describes the business process.
Table 2: LPCO business processes.
L1 Application for licence, permit,
certificate/other
The economic operator applies to a cross-border regulatory
agency for a licence, permit or a certificate and receives a
response. There are pre-issue, post-issue and transactional
verification processes during which LPCO validity,
applicability, quantities, amounts, etc. are verified.
Legal Issues:
Recognition of certificates and licences issued in another
country.
Delegation of authority for regulatory verification (where
such delegation is envisaged).
4.3 Advance Information
The SAFE Framework of Standards requires the collection of information on international supply
chains to be provided to Customs in advance of the transaction. Such information must be provided
to regulatory agencies at export and import in the form of pre-departure and pre-arrival goods and
cargo declarations. Information may also have to be provided on the containers loaded on board the
vessel, in the form of a vessel stow plan (VSP) and container status (CS) messages. The table below
provides details of the processes for advance information.
Legal Issues: Common to all processes in advance information
Enabling legislation for advance reporting.
Where legislation authorizes 3rd parties to submit this information on behalf of the carrier, the
liability of such a 3rd party needs to be legally defined.
What is the legal arrangement whereby advance information that is submitted to the NSW at
departure is transmitted for onward use by the NSWs at transit and destination? (In the
interests of feasibility and desirability, such transmissions would be addressed separately.)
4.4 Goods Declaration/Cargo Report/Conveyance Report
The processes of goods declaration, cargo reporting, and Conveyance reporting are described in the
revised Kyoto Convention(rKC) and its Guidelines. The rKC guidelines do include scenarios in
which businesses submit declarations and supporting documents electronically at one place as in a
Single Window type of interaction. In addition to the models for submitting a declaration, there is
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the ‘response package’ model, which depicts the business processes associated with a CBRA’s
response to a declaration. It is assumed that, in a Single Window environment, regulatory data for
submission to government will be harmonised and that the data exchange points between the
economic operator and Customs will coincide with the relevant exchanges with a partner CBRA.
Thus the regulatory reporting events for Customs may also be used simultaneously as events to
notify the partner CBRAs. This signifies the principle that one-time submission requires harmonized
data and documentation.
Legal Issues: Common to all processes in the goods declaration/cargo report and conveyance
report
Enabling legislation governing these declarations – not just for Customs, but also for partner CBRAs
(legislation covering the obligation to declare – definition of the taxable events, liability to duties,
taxes and fees, the manner in which the various levies are imposed and their amounts, etc.).
CBRA-specific legislation that enables the receipt of this data digitally, including logical and security
controls specifically defined in the law/regulation. The mandate of comprehensive e-governance
legislation to move to digital or paperless processes.
Regulatory procedures defining the place and timing of declarations to be harmonized between
Customs and partner CBRAs.
Authority to access data, use data and process data received as part of the processes covered by
CBRA-specific legislation. CBRA authority to view and make determinations based on information
collected in the ‘pool’ formed in the Single Window environment needs to be addressed correctly.
Inter-agency data exchange procedure and legal liabilities and obligations of agencies handling the
data.
Treatment of data received as part of declarations and reports under legislation dealing with the rival
concerns of data privacy and information transparency.
The action of checking the declaration, confirmation of verification and legally valid notification of
administrative determinations arrived at by authority.
Legislation often authorizes a 3rd party to submit this information on behalf of the carrier or importer.
The liability of such a 3rd party needs to be legally defined. Ability to use data and exchange data
with community systems that act as legally authorized 3rd party suppliers of regulatory declarations
and reports.
Legal provisions in a multiparty agreement between the parties concerned to enable filing of
declarations through or by a 3rd party is a pertinent legal issue.
What is the legal arrangement whereby declaration/report data submitted to the NSW at departure is
transmitted for onward use by the NSWs at transit and destination? (In the interests of feasibility and
desirability, such transmissions would be addressed separately.)
5. Conclusion
This Part discusses the legal aspects in a Single Window environment, first by examining five main
legal issues, then by considering these issues from a ‘life-cycle’ perspective in a Single Window
environment. Lastly, it outlines the changes needed to legal regimes from a business process
perspective.
Four distinct legal characteristics of a Single Window solution are discussed. For a Single Window
to exist, it has to have a defined and explicit legal authority, which is expressed through legislation.
Then, it has to become a distinct legal entity that must have the capacity to assume liability and
powers to conclude contracts, chief among which will be interchange agreements. These
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interchange agreements will legally define and govern the acts of information exchange.
Interchange agreements may contain data and messaging standards and service ontology, which may
have to be harmonized across multiple agencies. Such an exercise involves going back to the
original legislation of the participating CBRAs. Additionally,
these agreements will have the
relevant normative interface specifications.
As it handles data from traders, the Single Window should have the legal authority to collect,
possess, process and share the data for legitimate purposes. The privacy of the information will have
to be safeguarded, and sharing should be prohibited except as expressly permitted or provided for in
the statute.
In order for transactions in the Single Window to have the same legal validity as manual
transactions, the principles of identification, authentication and authorization need to be adopted.
Supporting legislation on digital documents, electronic signatures and electronic contracts based on
model codes from UNCITRAL are helpful. Identity management systems form the foundation of all
other Single Window services and depend upon identification and authentication. This Part
discusses the common legal challenges faced in employing identity management systems, which can
be overcome either through enabling legislation or through agreed terms and conditions that provide
the necessary waiver from certain obligations. Multiparty interchange agreements should
incorporate appropriate enabling provisions so that identity management systems operate
harmoniously with the restrictions imposed by privacy legislation.
The Part examines legal issues from a life-cycle perspective and from the point of view of business
processes in a Single Window environment. Executive management should identify and appoint
qualified legal experts to help establish the enabling legal framework for the Single Window
environment.
