From 5 to 8 December 2017, the WCO conducted a Workshop on Single Window implementation in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina, hosted by Argentina Customs and the Single Window Team from the Secretary of Commerce in the Ministry of Production.

The main objective of the Workshop was to provide cross-border regulatory agencies in Argentina with the WCO perspective and tools on Single Window implementation, presenting the experiences and best practices from other countries that already implemented similar solutions.

The workshop was attended by different authorities of Argentina, such as Mr. Diego Dávila – Director General of Customs, Mr. Braun – Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Luciano Di Gresia – Executive Director of Single Window (VUCEA). They highlighted the value of the workshop as an environment for collaboration to improve the engagement of stakeholders involved.

Around 50 officials from cross-border regulatory agencies and other government agencies in Argentina attended the workshop and tackled the challenges related to implementing the Single Window Project.

The WCO experts presented several WCO instruments and tools about trade facilitation to provide guidance to participants in developing and designing the Single Window Environment in line with stakeholders’ needs and expectations. During the workshop, WCO experts outlined the concepts of Coordinated Border Management (CBM), Single Window Project Management and Performance Evaluation, Business Process Analysis and Re-engineering, Data Harmonization, Certificate of Origin, etc. supported by case studies from different countries.

In addition, the participants, with the support of experts, carried out practical exercises to build key performance indicators for de Single Window Project, Business Process Analysis and Data Harmonization for Single Window.

The WCO workshop proved highly effective in engaging the different stakeholders involved in the Single Window and identifying future challenges for the implementation of this ambitious project.

With the commitment of the agencies involved and Argentina Customs, the WCO will continue to support this project next year with an assessment and recommendations based on WCO Tools.