SWL Asta-ASV Meeting: new online procedures
SWL
The Single Window for Logistics (SWL) programme is aimed to obtain permits by administrations and enable a paperless environment. The new online platform has the objective to speed up logistics processes and enhance the quality of the whole supply chain. The project has taken an important step, with the start of a test phase of several administrations involving shippers and forwarders that import animals, animal product and plants. The Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture and Consumer Protection, together with the Ministry of Economy and the Cluster for Logistics, invited economic operators to an information session on November 17th, 2016 afternoon about the new online administrative procedures. Over forty participants joined the information session at the Chamber of Commerce regarding:
- Phytosanitary export certificates
- Sanitary export certificates for animal products
- CITES permits for import/export of protected species
This information session gave an update on how to enter the online platform www.myguichet.lu and fill out the new electronic forms. The info session had a focus on regulation and procedures for CITES permits for endangered species. The conference was also a good opportunity for professionals and administrations to meet, as new procedures like this are welcome but also require good collaboration with the shippers and supply chain managers.
The Cluster for Logistics Manager Malik Zeniti made it clear that the new centralized portal is an important enabler for the logistics sector and provides a competitive advantage for Luxembourg. The Cluster supports SWL since the start of the implementation program in 2014 and is part of the workgroup organising the implementation.
The Administration des services vétérinaires (ASV) and Administration des services techniques de l’agriculture (ASTA) gave an overview of their roles and competences. Dr Felix Wildschutz, director of the ASV, introduced the administration’s duties and spoke of the importance of SWL in order to simplify the process and streamline the procedures.
Gilles Schlesser, director of the SWL Programme, introduced the concept of SWL and gave an overview of the timeline. After the trial run involving plants and animals, more fields will be added to the environment gradually. Some documents, like the Phytosanitary Export Form, are already online: http://www.guichet.public.lu/entreprises/fr/marche-international/import-export/exportation/certificat-phytosanitaire-export/index.html. Documents for the protected species will follow in December (See also page 12 of the Presentation).
Instead of sending documents to various actors, a single platform will centralize all the documents and give access to the required administrations. Shippers will be able to see the status of the procedure and get access to the document until it receives a green light. The information portal www.swl.lu also includes the various stages and gives an overview of the timeline.
As the signatures need to be official, companies need either a Luxtrust authenticator or a eID account, says the responsible for MyGuichet, Pierre Clauss. This project is in line with the government strategy on dematerialisation and is especially useful for the follow-up of the documents. The new electronic forms within the MyGuichet advanced functionalities (duplication of request, autofill fields, etc.) will eventually allow for gains of time when people are used to them, says Cecile Sondag, Consultant Business Optimisation for SWL.
The procedures are meant to be faster, explains Monique Faber-Decker responsible for the protection of vegetal products at ASTA. She presented the various forms that are used by her administration and how certificates are generated by the new program.
Dr Malou Grasges, official veterinary of the Administration des services vétérinaires, gave an indepth explanation of the regulation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), which is an international agreement between governments. It has the aim to ensure that international trade of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. Nowadays 35,000 species are registered and are categorized in varying degrees. Caviar for example underlies specific rules that have to be taken into account when exporting or re-exporting. The online procedure is aimed to simplify the administrative burden (examples of CITES trade certificate requests and explanations can be found starting page 50 of the presentation), explains Michael Di Rocco, Consultant Business Optimisation for SWL.
The public administrations are aware that the change of procedures might at first be a source of confusion. However, the helpdesk of guichet.lu and the emails of the veterinary service and phytosanitary administration will be available as usual in case of problems.
About the Single Window for Logistics
The Single Window for Logistics (SWL) Programme is an initiative of the Luxembourg Government aiming at facilitating trading and communication between Economic Operators and Government Agencies in the logistics sector by offering a single administrative point of access to electronic exchanges related to international trade flows (export, import and transit).
In the context of globalization and the resulting increase in international trade, the modern global supply chain must be efficiency-driven while being more and more constrained by security and traceability issues. Despite important breakthroughs in information and communication technologies, required trade, transport and regulatory documentation are still often decentralized and paper-based. The misalignment between the requirements from the global trade economy and the national regulatory constraints is an increasing burden for economic actors and public agencies.
Based on this observation, the Government Council has decided on April 25, 2014 to set up a Single Window for Logistics and international trade. This integrated solution, implemented by the Luxembourg State, will be developed around four main axes:
Transaction: digitize current administrative operations in order to enable Economic Operators to do their administrative formalities related to logistics operations online and paperless
Information: provide information about necessary documents to import, export and transit goods through Luxembourg
Help-desk: offer support to Economic Operators who want to carry out their administrative formalities in case the information portal did not offer the adequate information
Coordination: orchestrate the activities between involved Government Agencies, as well as between those agencies and the logistics service providers
