TRANSFORMING CUSTOMS THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

Transcription

1 SUCCESS STORY Ultra Solutions for Public Sector TRANSFORMING CUSTOMS THROUGH TECHNOLOGY Single Window for Licenses for Import, Export and Transit of Goods and Tariff Quotas in the Republic of Macedonia SHORT OVERVIEW OF THE SOLUTION EXIM is an umbrella under which all national IT systems for cross-border movement and control of goods are interfaced. EXIM allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardized information and documents with a single entry point to fulfill all import, export, and transit-related regulatory requirements. The system is used by the business community and all government agencies responsible for control and safety of imported, exported and transiting products which are under the regime of licenses. Another part which is covered by the system is the electronic service for tariff quota applications and real-time monitoring of the allocation. USERS Customs administration Ministry of interior Ministry of agriculture Sanitary Directorate Veterinary Directorate State inspectorate for agriculture Seed and seed materials Directorate Bureau for medicine Food Directorate State sanitary and health inspectorate FUNCTIONALITIES Ministry of economy Bureau for metrology Ministry of environment and physical planning Ministry of culture Directorate for radiation security National bank Importers Exporters Carriers Brokers Freight Forwarders Single frame for all required information for obtaining import, export or transit licenses and tariff quotas in paperless environment Electronic submission of 66 standardized licenses applications and real-time monitoring of the current status Electronic issuance of licenses from the Government agencies and real time monitoring of usage by Customs Electronic submission of applications for tariff quota and real time monitoring of the allocation Electronic monitoring of payments for administrative fees GOVERNMENT BUSINESSES EXIM was awarded 1st prize for ICT excellence in the public sector in R. Macedonia for 2010 Ultra All Rights Reserved

2 PRODUCT ORGANIZATION The software application consists of following modules: - Module 01: Registration - Module 02: EI Licenses - Module 03: Form designer - Module 04: Tariff Quotas - Module 05: Referential Tables - Module 06: Digital Signing - Module 07: Management of Taxes - Module 08: Data Exchange - Module 09: Reports - Module 10: Administration Registration module There are several groups of EXIM users: Business Community Government Institutions Customs Administration Main administrators in the Hosting Institution. Administration module allows administrators to manage their complementary group users. Specifically, they can add, modify and delete users of their group. They can also grant or revoke privilege to users to access EXIM system by activating or inactivating users. This action allows administrators to temporary allow or deny access to EXIM without actually deleting users. Licenses module This module allows the business community to submit license requests. It also allows them to review already submitted requests. Government agencies can list and process incoming license requests addressed to them. The communication between these entities may go in several steps, for example the request reviewer might decide that additional information or some correction is needed in the license request, so the applicant from the business community needs to review its request and re-submit the updated request for further processing. All license applications can be in one of several states of processing status during this workflow: pending, approved, rejected etc. Licenses - Application Tariff Quotas Licenses - Tracking

3 Form Designer Web-based form designer module allows administrators from the respective institution to create new forms and to modify existing forms. The forms will be used for electronic submission of the applications for the import/export licenses and quotas but also for issuance of certain type of licenses which form (template) is prescribed by law. The form designer allows you to include a feature in new forms that allows scanned documents to be included in that new application form. The form designer is tightly integrated with the database, so additional business logic implementation or interaction with the database will be easy to achieve. The entire metadata that this tool will produce is stored in the database, so users will be able to administrate it and process the application with simple procedures. The forms designer is easy to use for users with basic IT experience. The entire form designer is web based and users will need only a web browser to use it. Tariff Quotas Quotas Module allows companies to apply for a quota, and review information about their used/remaining quota. Customs Administration can process quota requests from companies and perform quota distribution. The module is separated into 2 parts -Administration of Quotas (add, edit) -Tariff Quotas Requests. Management of Taxes Tightly integrated with the License request and processing Module, this module allows the tracking and management of administrative tax payments (and other fees) for license applications. Payment data is electronically received from financial institutions and integrated in the EXIM system. This allows government agencies to include this information during the license processing and approval. The business community also benefits from this integration, because they do not need to supply separate proof of payment for their license request applications. To become an EXIM user, the Economic Operator should register to the system. The following conditions should be met: - Good internet connection - Valid address - Valid digital certificate - JAVA Macedonian language support on your computer HOW TO BECOME USER

4 Digital signature All documents are verified with digital signature. Users can use PKCS#12 compliant certificates (file based.pfx or.p12) or PKCS#11 compliant token devices. All critical documents created in EXIM system are digitally signed. Web form data is transformed in XML format, and this XML data is digitally signed upon form submission. User s digital certificate is used to sign the data. Signed XML data is transmitted to EXIM system which validates the digital signature and if successful the data is inserted in the database. Also, CRL check is performed on the certificate used for digital signing to acknowledge the validity of the certificate. Referential Tables Module Referential table module allows management of reference database tables used throughout the system. Administrators using this module can insert, update and delete information in this tables and this changes will be reflected everywhere in EXIM system. Data Exchange Module The interconnection and data exchange between EXIM and other cross-border IT systems is based on web services XML message exchange. EXIM - Functional Diagram

5 Reports The EXIM system uses the JasperReports library for its reporting purposes. The library is open source which means free of cost, large community of active supporters and a lot of documentation, help and tutorials available online. JasperReports is a popular open-source reporting engine whose main purpose is to help creating page oriented, ready to print documents in a simple and flexible manner. It is written in 100% Java and can be embedded in any Java application. JasperReports has the ability to deliver rich content in various formats such as PDF, HTML, XLS, CSV, XML files, or directly on the screen or printer. Using standards-based, open XML report definitions, it allows users to take advantage of the largest and most active community of report designers and developers. JasperReports are defined in an XML file format, called JRXML, which can be hand-coded, generated, or designed using a tool. The file format is defined by a Document Type Definition (DTD), providing limited interoperability. STANDARDS The UN/CEFACT Recommendation 33 on Establishing and Single Window and draft Recommendation 34 on Single Window Data Harmonization and Standardization were seriously consulted and followed to a great extent in the course of conceptualization and implementation of the project. EXIM is in line with the national government standards for interoperability and information security. Introducing EXIM, the Government Authorities for the first time started to use the electronic signature for verification. TECHNOLOGY EXIM is the latest generation multitier web application Web Tier: HTTP server / Mid Tier: Application server (WebSphere, Glassfish) / Data Tier: Database (Oracle) EXIM is developed in Java technology (Java EE, JSF, JSP, Hibernate, Ajax4JSF) EXIM uses electronic signature for verification (PKCS#12 compliant certificates, PKCS#11 compliant token devices) EXIM is an open system (exchanges XML files or uses web services for interoperation with other systems) EXIM provides centralized management of common reference All products and technologies used to develop, build and run EXIM are based on open standards.

6 BENEFITS For the Government Agencies Standardized and harmonized data for more comprehensive exchange of information among the government agencies - Seamless performance of 16 Government agencies in import, export and transit procedures - Increased efficiency of the licensing process and better legal certainty - Improved conditions for risk assessment - Elevated level of technical capability, efficiency and transparency - Secure and paperless environment for data processing - Interoperability and centralized management of reference data - Possibility for integration with other IT systems when they arise - More efficient use of human resources - Enhanced national security - Increased revenues for the government For the Businesses Single window for obtaining all licenses required for import, export and transit of goods issued by 16 Government agencies - Service availability 24 hours, 7 days a week - Transparent and predictable procedures - Faster clearance and release of goods - Reduced administrative burden - Save time and costs for due to 66 different electronic procedures related to submission of applications for licenses, monitoring of the usage of licenses and applications and allocation of tariff quotas Reported benefits - Businesses

7 TRADERS SAID ABOUT EXIM... Before EXIM, it took us almost two days to import, for example, food - the day before the import the documents should have been manually prepared and physically submitted to the Food Directorate, while on the day of actual import, after checks and controls were made, the import license was issued. With EXIM, it takes a maximum of 3 hours from on-line application to on-line license, all that, in the convenience of our office chairs Gjoko Ackovski, General Manager, Spedicija MKD (one of the biggest Forwarders in Macedonia) Currently, we have 18 employees using EXIM on daily basis in the process of import (Logistic) and export (Selling). We wish to stress our satisfaction with the system because upon its implementation we obtain the necessary licenses in very short time and electronically which is completely different that before filling the applications by hand, tax stamps, personal delivery to each and every single institution separately, from one to another stop shop By using this system we have made considerable savings of time and resources, and our operation is more efficient and more economical Nikola Dimovski, Deputy Manager for ICT, Alkaloid AD (the biggest pharmaceutical company in Macedonia) EXIM - Promotional Brochures for Traders World Customs Organization - United Nation Economic Commision for Europe - United Nation Economic Commision for Europe - USAID E-Gov Project - Internews - European Commission - ABOUT EXIM

8 ABOUT THE PROJECT The implementation of the Project is coordinated and managed by the Customs Administration of the Republic of Macedonia and is supported by the egov Project ( funded by the US Agency for International Development - USAID. Local press releases ABOUT THE DEVELOPER comprises design, development, implementation and integration of complex information systems, as well as provision of services from all levels of IT projects' lifecycle. ULTRA DOO Partizanski odredi 70b, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia ultra@ultra.com.mk /