Factors Affecting the Implementation of Ethiopian Electronic Single Window, The Case of Addis Ababa Air Port Customs Branch Office
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Date
2021-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
UN/CEFACT(2020) notes, Performing international trade requires preparation and submission
of large volume of information and documents to government regulatory authorities and most of
the time it is performed through their agencies and each will have their own electronic or paper
forms as a result it is time taking and cost associated with procedures and documents is very
high. Trade facilitation tools are helpful to avoid these extensive requirements and to decreases
time and cost of processing trade. Electronic single window is one of the tools, it is a facility that
allows parties involved in trade to lodge information and documents with a single entry point to
fulfill import, export, and transit related regulatory requirements. The government of Ethiopia
has launched an electronic single window in January 2020 as a means for trade facilitation.it
has believed that it will decrease the time and cost of performing cross border trade, however
since paper work was trend for many years there may be resistance to change and due to lack of
technical knowledge and other technical issues it will not be easy to use the system so creating
awareness through training, promotion and communication is needed. The study has conducted
to identify major factors affecting the successfulness of the implementation of the SW. Five
factors were identified from related literature review for successful implementation of single
window namely; stakeholders’ coordination, enabling legal framework, political will, business
model and technical issues. The population of the study includes importers and agencies in Addis
Ababa currently operating in Addis Ababa airport customs branch office using the system. In
conducting the study primary data were collected using questionnaire and interview. The
research approach was both qualitative and quantitative and the research design used was
descriptive and explanatory. Data analyzed by quantitative and qualitative method of analysis
and descriptive statistics was computed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).
According to the findings the implementation has five stages and it is now in its second stage;
paperless customs has introduced in sep.2020 and the existing SW is just a bridge between
traders and government agencies, the SW for import community, national single window and
regional single windows are going to be implementing in the next stages respectively. Based on
the study findings there is an appropriate political commitment, enabling legal frame work and a
suitable business model, However improvement required regarding stakeholders’ coordination
and in some technical issues.
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Keywords
single, window system, trade, facilitation