Sri Lanka Shippers Council welcomes single window concept by Customs

Monday, 1 February 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Untitled-3 The Sri Lanka Shippers Council welcomed the single window concept implemented by the Sri Lanka customs recently.

The Chairman of the Council Sean Van Dort, while welcoming this move said, “We have waited around 20 years for this to be a reality. This would certainly uplift our rankings in the ease of doing business index and help our importers and exporters to cut down on operational cost.

We as the Shippers Council have been working with the customs and relevant authorities to ensure that this will be implemented across all related government institutions linked to the single window operations, and look forward to the day when we are not required to visit any line authorities for obtaining approvals to clear import cargo or ship out export cargo out of this country.

“Presently the system is partly automated while we are still required to visit officials for approvals, which costs us time resources and space but does not add value to our goods and services offered to the international buyers. The hidden costs of doing business will drastically come down when we are no longer required in meeting officials to obtain approvals at various line agencies,” he said.

“We thank the Director General of Customs, and its ICT division who has worked on this project and the Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake for his support in making this a reality.”