Single Window

 

Harmonization, simplification and the reduction of the „administrative burden“ is a main issue  in the shipping industry. The first step was the implementation of

• the Dangerous Goods declaration
• the IMO-FAL forms 1 to 7 by the IMO,
• the „Medical Health Declaration“ by the WHO and
• the Waste Notification

 

Later the forms were unified for the declaration of

• ISPS
• Customs and
• Port State Control.

 

Traditionally, each port in the world has its own history, development, geographical or other particularities as well as an individual political and administrative structure. This generates part of the „administrative burden“ for the Captain on board: he has to provide additional information by using varying communication channels depending on the infrastructure of the port.

In order to reduce the workload on board, several countries’ administrations have established electronical databases to transmit  information to the authorities ashore. As such, this is an excellent approach. However, due to varying political and administrative structures, set-up, implementation and operation differs from country to country.

The Commission of the European Union published the directive „2010/65/EU“ containing the requirements of a database called „Single Window“ which has the purpose to collect and forward data to the acknowledged Authorities. Germany was one of the first Member States  providing a „National Single Window“ (NSW) at its launch on May 27^th 2015.

The database NSW is operated in the „Maritime Traffic Centre“, a co-operation between the Federal Republic of Germany and the five autonomous coastal states Bremen, Hamburg, Lower-Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. All of these states own  operating seaports and are vastly differing at their levels of IT-infrastructure. The local authorities as recipients of the data provided by NSW are now on their way to establish a connection to the NSW. The Customs in Germany are not involved in the NSW. A National Law and bye-law for the mandatory use of the NSW is still under construction.

Other Member States opened their Single Windows providing a National Law and bye-law. We aim to establish connections with all Single Windows in Europe.