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PAKISTAN REGIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION ACTIVITY (PREIA)

SHORT TERM CONSULTANT FOR

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DRAFT PAKISTAN SINGLE WINDOW ACT, 2020

PREIA COMPONENT 2

BACKGROUND

The Pakistan Regional Economic Integration Activity (PREIA) is intended to further the development of the country’s trade sector by improving Pakistan’s competitiveness in international markets. The Activity is a key component of USAID Pakistan’s overall economic development program and supports achievement of Development Objective #2 from USAID/Pakistan’s Mission Strategy: “Improving Economic Status of Focus Populations.” The PREIA project includes provision of targeted assistance to Pakistan Customs/FBR (Federal Board of Revenue), Government of Pakistan, in the form of interventions geared towards improving the conditions for international and cross-border trade and transit by simplifying and harmonizing border clearance and other related customs procedures. This includes provision of support to meet ‘Category C’ obligations under the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).

The WTO’s TFA, amongst other trade facilitation measures, encourages member states to develop their trade related National Single Window (NSW). Pakistan has committed to develop and launch its NSW by 2022, with Pakistan Customs having been designated as the ‘Lead Agency’ by the Prime Minister’s Office for the development of this important reform initiative. Accordingly, FBR has established a Program Management Office (PMO) in Customs Wing to coordinate and implement this initiative under the supervision of a high-level Steering Committee (SC) having representation from Customs, key OGAs and the private sector and chaired by the Minister of Finance, Revenues, and Economic Affairs.

A single window is a facility that 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. If information is electronic, then individual data elements should only be submitted once. The NSW will help reduce the time and cost of doing business in Pakistan and make trade related business processes more efficient, transparent and consistent.

At the same time, however, establishing a single window is a complex process that amongst other things involves a thorough review of the existing laws and established practices defining the relationship amongst different stakeholders and governing the flow of trade related information in the trade ecosystem. The strength and flexibility of the legal framework to allow for adoption and absorption of modern practices and technologies also influences the business and operating model for the NSW, integrated risk management and cargo inspection policies, payment systems and the NSW organizational design that includes human resource and procurement policies.

Pakistan Customs/FBR with support from national and international experts finalised a detailed ‘Project Design Document’ which recommended promulgation of a new Pakistan Single Window (PSW) Act after carrying out detailed legal gap analysis in line with the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT)’s recommendation no. 35. The Steering Committee under chairmanship of Adviser for Finance and Economic Affairs also directed FBR to share the draft PSW Act with stakeholders for consultations. Accordingly, the PSW Act was drafted by Pakistan Customs in collaboration with PREIA and detailed consultation process with all stakeholders undertaken. Once their feedback had been incorporated in the draft law, Customs initiated the process of enactment of the Draft PSW. The draft Act was submitted to the Federal Cabinet in December 2019, and after its approval in March 2020 with the consent of the relevant stakeholders has been presented in the Parliament on June 5, 2020 for approval and enactment.

PREIA has been leading the technical assistance to FBR/Pakistan Customs on the NSW. With PREIA’s support, Customs has made significant progress allowing the project to transition quickly from the inception to the design phase and beyond. In addition to the foundational activities underpinning the project’s technical and functional architecture and the NSW software development, PREIA actively collaborated with Pakistan Customs in developing the Draft Act. The Draft PSW Act provides legal basis for the proposed functional, operational, governance and revenue models besides integrated risk management system, joint inspections, e-payments etc. aimed at improving transparency, efficiency and controls in imports, exports and transits trade.

In anticipation of the parliamentary approval of the draft Act, the NSW PMO has requested technical assistance in procuring the services of a qualified individual having expertise in law and cross border trade to support Pakistan Customs in developing the rules, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and other legal instruments necessary to implement the PSW Act. In addition, the consultant will evaluate and identify the legal gaps in the rules and procedures of Customs and selected other government authorities (OGAs) for alignment with the PSW legislation and suggest further improvements.

OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE

The objective of this consultancy is to provide comprehensive legal advice and drafting of all legal work related to and /or under the PSW Act, 2020 which is needed to support the implementation of Pakistan Single Window system and thereby its seamless and smooth operations.

The specific objectives of the proposed activity are as follows:

  1. Provision of comprehensive legal advice for drafting of the regulations, MOUs, and (Service Level Agreements) SLAs etc. to give effect to the PSW Act;
  2. Evaluate and identify the legal gaps in the rules and procedures of OGAs for alignment with the PSW Legislation that may have been missed in the initial gap analysis and suggest improvements/modifications;
  3. Maintain active liaison with the PMO and facilitate consensus building between different stakeholders on legal matters.

TASKS (PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS)

The consultant will:

  1. Draft Rules required to be issued under the draft PSW Act, 2020;
  2. Draft MoU to be signed by the Governing Council with the Lead Agency and its Operating Entity;
  3. Draft MOU between the PSW Company and selected participating entities governing the relationship between the PSW company and the participating entities as well as for exchange of data;
  4. Draft SLAs containing key performance indicators and benchmarks between the PSW Company and selected participating entities for performance management of all parties.
  5. Evaluate and identify the legal gaps in the rules and procedures of selected Government Authorities for alignment with the PSW Legislation;
  6. Suggest improvements/modifications in laws, procedures and rules so that PSW system can be effectively implemented in line with business objectives such as cost decrease, time reduction and output quality improvement;
  7. Draft any other piece of legislation or legal work, not covered or mentioned above as required by the FBR for PSW related matters;
  8. Maintain active liaison with the PMO and facilitate consensus building between PSW company and various stakeholders.

REQUIRED DELIVERABLES

The consultant will perform the given task in the following manner:

  1. The consultant would submit an Inception Report to include, inter alia, the list of high priority regulations and other legal instruments required to give effect to the PSW Act, detailed proposed methodology and a work implementation plan within 2 weeks of contract signature;
  2. The consultant would submit the first drafts of Rules, Regulations/ Notifications, SLAs, SOPs, Contracts as agreed with the PMO within 6 weeks of contract signature;
  3. The consultant would help develop consensus amongst the client and the OGAs on above drafts through continuous deliberations and discussions. This task is to be finished within 10 weeks of contract signature;
  4. The consultant would submit the final drafts of Rules, Regulations/ Notifications, SLAs, SOPs, Contracts as agreed with the PMO within 14 weeks of contract signature;
  5. The consultant would finalize all the above work and make it ready for implementation before the end of contract period;

QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE

Eligible Consultants should have the following qualifications and experience:

  1. Law Degree with specialization on taxation law, contract law or related field;
  2. Minimum 10 years of relevant experience in providing legal services at least five (5) of which should be in the area of law or public sector dealing with drafting, implementation and/or administration of law. Candidates having proven record in drafting of law, rules or regulations and having drafted at least three statutes or rules and regulations will be preferred;
  3. Demonstrable experience of working with the public sector and international intergovernmental organizations on drafting of laws, regulations, MOUs and other legal instruments related to reforms, automation, trade facilitation and ease of doing business; and
  4. Familiarity with international instruments and treaties etc. related to trade facilitation like Trade Facilitation Agreement of the World Trade Organization and UNECE/UN-CEFACT Recommendation No. 33 etc.  

BASE OF OPERATIONS: 

Islamabad, Pakistan (flexible). PREIA will cover all travel related expenses.

REPORTING:

The Consultant will report to PREIA’s Customs and Trade Facilitation Advisor. The NSW PMO will act as the liaison between Customs and other stakeholders.

ESTIMATED COMPLETION TIME: 

The assignment is expected to be completed over a period of 4 months (Nov 1-Feb 28, 2021) to the satisfaction of the Client. The terms and conditions of the contract shall apply for the duration of the contract, beginning on the date of this assignment, or the actual date of commencement of the work whichever is earlier.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL

Eligible Consultant(s) should submit technical and financial proposals in both electronic and hard copy format. Proposals should also include inter alia:

  1. Statement of relevant experience i.e. similar assignments executed in/under execution in the last five years;
  2. Measurable goals and objectives and methodology;
  3. Indication of availability to carry out the Consultancy during the period the contract is being extended;
  4. Supporting documents such as CVs are to be attached as appendix; and

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

Financial proposal shall be submitted separately and should include all administration costs including overheads, printing, posting, copying, and presentation.

PAYMENT SCHEDULE

• 20% of the consultancy fee on signing the contract and submission of the inception report including methodology for drafting the SOP;

• 40% of the consultancy fee on submission of (i) first drafts of the Rules and Regulations to be framed under the PSW Act, 2020; and (ii) SLAs & contracts between GAs and PSW Company; and

• 40% of the consultancy fee on completion of the final drafts of the deliverables mentioned above.