Single Window

Customs

A facility allowing trade parties to submit information through a single entry point to fulfil import/export requirements.

Sources

1. ICEGATE, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs — Single Window icegate.gov.in accessed 23 September 2026

India’s version is stated by ICEGATE in a single sentence: the “India Customs Single Window” “would allow importers and exporters, the facility to lodge their clearance documents online at a single point only”. That is the whole idea of a single window anywhere — one lodgement, distributed by the system to every agency entitled to see it, in place of separate filings to customs and to each participating government agency in turn. Note what the sentence does not promise. A single point of lodgement is not a single decision: the participating agencies still each apply their own rules and can each hold a consignment. The saving is in filing effort and in visibility, not in the number of approvals a consignment must clear.

Sourced to the body that runs it. This entry cites the institution’s own account of its remit, which is authoritative for what the thing is and how it is meant to work. Where the page states a legal basis, that instrument — not the summary — is what binds, and it is worth reading before relying on a summary in a regulatory filing.

Related terms

• Advance Authorisation
• Anti-Dumping Duty
• ATA Carnet
• Authorised Economic Operator
• Bill of Entry
• Binding Tariff Information

From the AJG lexicon archive (July 2026).