‘Get ready for AEO certification from July next year’

IN A global move to achieve supply chain security, every partner along the chain is soon going to have to be accredited, with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and European backed “authorised economic operator (AEO)” concept the likely measure of compliance, according to Ronnie van Rooyen, Durban-based senior manager of trade and customs consultants, Deloitte. The whole surge for security in the freight industry stemmed from the “911” terrorist attacks on the US, which were closely followed by that country’s introduction of a number of security initiatives, he told FTW. “The WCO and the European Union (EU) also felt that they needed to ensure security in the supply chain – especially after the March 2004 Madrid bombings and the July 2005 London bombings – and devised the AEO concept as the means of certifying all the parties involved.” The European-driven system will be implemented from July 2009, Van Rooyen added, allowing some 16 months for all the parties which move cargoes in-and-out of that trade bloc to get up to speed. “If you want to secure the entire supply chain,” he said, “you need to motivate a lot of jurisdictions around the world. Every country that deals with the EU will have to be on the same page, and information will be shared by all the customs authorities involved in the movement of the goods.” This will obviously include SA shippers, importers, logistics operators and transporters. And, Van Rooyen added, we will also see SA Revenue Service (Sars) customs adopting the AEO policy. • Van Rooyen is currently doing doctoral research for the Centre for Customs & Excise Studies at the University of Canberra, Australia, and his thesis will focus on the AEO concept.