President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday signed into law the Pakistan Single Window Bill 2021 and Senate Secretariat Services (Amendment) Bill 2021. Under the Pakistan Single Window Act, an independent institution having a governing council and secretariat would be established for the facilitation of national and international trade. The new law will provide a coordinated one-window system to facilitate exports, imports and transit trade. Establishment of an independent institution, besides reducing the cost of doing business, will also help ease cross border trade and transportation of goods. The institution will also help in timely processing of data and bring about improvement in the provision of quality services.
Under the Senate Secretariat Services (Amendment) Act 2021, signed into law by the President under article 75 of the Constitution, the BS-17 appointments in the Senate Secretariat will be made through the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC). However, the Senate Secretariat would be authorised to make appointments in BS-1 to BS-16.
Direct appointments in BS-18 in the Senate Secretariat have been done away with. The absorption of officers, posted in the Senate Secretariat on deputation, has also been prohibited under the new law. Earlier on Monday last, the Upper House of the Parliament unanimously passed the Pakistan Single Window Bill, 2021 that would pave the way for improved ease of doing business in cross-border trade. According to the objectives and reasons of the bill, the Pakistan Customs would be a lead agency to establish information and communication technology-based National Single Window (NSW) system. The NSW is facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardised information and documents with a single entry point to fulfil all import, export and transit related regulatory requirements implementation of NSW, enables Pakistan to meet its obligations under WTO’s trade facilitation agreement while improving ease of doing business in cross border trade. The draft PSW bill, 2020 provided a legal basis for adoption of functional, operational, governance and revenue models required to develop and operate the NSW system on a sustainable basis and in line with the best international practices.
