National Board of Revenue (NBR) has recently formed two separate committees for effective implementation of National Single Window (NSW), a virtual platform for the businesses to do business from home.
The NSW system will enhance the trade operations by eliminating paper work and reducing time through maintaining up-to-date information.
NSW is a facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardised information and documents with a single entry point to fulfill all import, export, and transit-related regulatory requirements.
The virtual platform technology simplifies trade, saves time and money and increases efficiency by submitting export, import documentation and transit-related regulatory requirements through one electronic portal, allowing agencies to easily access information.
According to the plan, the NSW will be linked with customs of NBR, Bangladesh Bank, Office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms, banks, Board of Investment and other service-providing agencies
On December 15 last year, the NBR had formed a Project Implementation Unit (PIU) to establish the NSW in the country with NBR member (customs modernisation) as the Project Director of PIU while two other First Secretaries from custom wing as members.
NBR second secretary (customs modernisation and project management) will act as procurement focal point while second secretary (customs- international trade and treaty) will act as financial management focal point of the committee.
According to NBR plan, the PIU will be responsible for undertaking necessary actions in line with the recommendation from Inter Ministerial and Transport Facilitation Committee (ITTFC), National Council for Trade and Transport Facilitation (NCTTF) and National Single Window (NSW) Working Group (NSWWG) for implementation of NSW in the country.
The team, which will prepare development projects proposal, will purchase and collect necessary materials as per Development Project Proposal. It will also finalise operational module of the projects and their implementation, said NBR officials.
The Bangladesh government is implementing the NSW in the country as recommended by the World Bank. The NSW would be established under the Regional Connectivity Project of the World Bank.
The customs wing of National Board of Revenue (NBR) will act as the lead agency for setting up the NSW and will provide services to investors, entrepreneurs, exporters and importers in the NSW.
Meanwhile, the NBR has also formed a 39-member National Single Window Working Group (NSW WG) to implement the online business process in the country.
Finance Ministry’s Internal Resources Division (IRD) Secretary, also the NBR Chairman, will lead the committee as President, while NBR member (customs modernisation) will be the Member Secretary of the working group.
The working group will identify the problems and challenges in implementing the project and will take steps to resolve the glitches. It also takes long term, medium term, short-term, annual and monthly plans and will be responsible for implementing it.
It will also work for strengthening capacity of government institutions and stakeholders and monitoring all the sub groups under the NSW WG etc.