Delegates of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in the first week of September to support the drafting of the legal framework establishing the technical architecture of the ASEAN Single Window (ASW).
The Legal Framework Agreement (LFA), once adopted, will set a common legal framework in ASEAN for the electronic exchange of transaction data.
“In an electronic ASW environment, there is a need to provide an adequate legal framework for data privacy, acceptance of electronic signatures, electronic data retention and archiving policies, and admissibility of electronic evidence in court proceedings,” the ASEAN said in a press statement.
The delegates to the 4th Workshop on Legal Matters for the ASEAN Single Window reviewed the legal concepts and analyzed the implications of the technical architecture for the ASW Pilot Project on the LFA being developed by the member-states.
The workshop will be followed by the 13th Meeting of the Working Group on Legal and Regulatory Matters for the ASW. As the ASW technical architecture begins to take shape, this workshop will support the development of the legal framework pact.
Simplicio Domingo II, chair of the legal working group for the ASW, highlighted the importance of the workshop to their work in crafting the LFA. “We should aggressively push for the completion of the ASW Legal Framework, taking reference [from] the fresh insights we have obtained from this workshop.”
Member-states have agreed to establish their respective National Single Windows (NSWs) by 2012 and connect them through the ASW, a cornerstone for establishing the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.
Through an NSW, traders electronically submit forms for export, import, and transit procedures only once, and they are processed and cleared by multiple government agencies in a single integrated process. The ASW will provide a secure architecture that allows NSWs to exchange cargo clearance data electronically.
Photo by Jeff McNeill
