Panaji, Oct 10 (TOI): Central board of excise and customs' chairperson Najib Shah, on Wednesday said the Indian customs administration is in the process of finalizing a single-window clearance system to facilitate imports, which is expected to begin functioning by 2016.

The import of pharmaceutical products, food, drugs and other products presently requires clearances from their different departments. "We're trying to prepare a single document which can cover the concerns of all departments and that document will be shared with all departments. Our target is 2016 covering all aspects of the single window but this is a target which involves multiple departments and multiple IT infrastructure. The platforms of various departments are different so we have to ensure that there's uniformity in platforms itself," he said.

The Indian customs administration is conscious of improving technology and is in the process of getting more container scanners. The scanners placed at ports conduct an all intrusive examination and don't require them to be opened up.

The Indian customs administration is also moving swiftly towards paperless transactions in keeping with the Digital India campaign. "We're identifying all areas wherever information is already available on the system and don't want to replicate it on paper. We're reducing the quantum of paper required from the trade. Digital signature has also been introduced in most of our transactions and is accepted as a legitimate," Shah said.

He was speaking on the conclusion of the two-day 11th Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) of customs directors-general commissioners in Goa, held for the first time in India.

An action plan the 'Goa Declaration' was chalked out for 2016-17 till the 12th ASEM in Berlin.