It is with the aim of improving the transparency, speed and efficiency of procedures related to the import, export and transit of goods that the Authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo wanted to provide innovative solutions to secure, automate and optimize the procedures used by the Foreign Trade Community.
Following an international consultation, the Democratic Republic of Congo has selected the bid of the Bureau Veritas BIVAC / SOGET consortium and awarded it the concession for the establishment and operation of the Integral Single Window for Foreign Trade.
The Integral Single Window for Foreign Trade is a dematerialized and interactive platform for the use of the Foreign Trade Community and dedicated to trade facilitation. Thus, it centralizes and distributes in real time all the information necessary for the activity of the stakeholders of all the regulatory, customs and logistical components of import, export and transit operations on the national territory.
A call for tenders was launched on September 25, 2012 via the Central Coordination Office (BCECO) in order to recruit an operator capable of deploying a Comprehensive Single Window for Foreign Trade in the DRC.
La Société d’exploitation du Guichet Unique Intégral en RDC (SEGUCE RDC in acronym) is responsible for implementing a reform aimed at facilitating the foreign trade of the Democratic Republic of Congo by setting up an electronic platform to facilitate exchanges between different actors.
The Integral Single Window for Foreign Trade is a neutral, transparent and secure electronic platform, accessible 24 hours a day via private network or via the internet, to the entire Foreign Trade Community. Thus, it centralizes all the regulatory, customs and logistical components relating to the import, export and transit operations of goods on the national territory.
Under the authority of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Finance, the reform of the Integral Single Window for Foreign Trade (GUICE) is carried out by SEGUCE RDC SA, a private operator within the framework of a public-private partnership, according to internationally recognized best practices.
By Decree No. 019/15 of 14 October 2015 establishing a Comprehensive Single Window for Foreign Trade and the related decrees, its use is mandatory throughout the country.
The establishment of a Comprehensive Single Window for Foreign Trade (GUICE) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) originates from the government's desire to comply with international regulatory provisions and to strengthen the competitiveness of the DRC's Foreign Trade. The objective was to digitize all the procedures and documents imposed by national regulations. "It is not a question of scanning each of the documents but rather of digitizing them to allow everyone to be able to enter the information in the GUICE." Once validated, this data cannot be modified.
All actors in the pre-clearance, customs clearance and post-clearance chain are informed and consult the platform by authenticating themselves to access the information concerning them in a secure manner. The following entities are thus connected to the platform: