Global customs accreditation system mooted Authorised Economic Operator concept in the spotlight

JOY ORLEK
THERE’S A new acronym doing the rounds in international Customs circles and one which could change the way we do business in the years ahead. The AEO or Authorised Economic Operator concept, currently the subject of much debate by Customs administrations around the world, is in essence similar to Sars’ customs accreditation system. It is designed to afford accredited operators the benefits of fewer customs stops based on a set of internationally-recognised compliance criteria. But establishing an internationally-agreed set of criteria is the challenge facing the World Customs Organisation right now. Sars Commissioner Pravin Gordhan said last week that a framework of standards that would apply to customs administrations worldwide was currently under discussion by the World Customs Organisation. “Two senior officials from the WCO and Norwegian customs are currently conducting a diagnostic on SA customs to establish the capability of Sars in the context of the framework of standards and the capacity needed to cope with new challenges. “Once that diagnostic is available we will combine it with work that our other colleagues have done and later this year we will be in a position to speak on our programme,” he said. “One of the issues that emerged in the context of the framework of standards was that of the AEO which will be a key area of dialogue between Saaff and ourselves,” he said. At a recent meeting held in Shanghai, 40 members of the international private sector – SA was represented by Barloworld – debated the concept of the AEO. “In order to facilitate and secure trade it’s important that various role-players in the supply chain be authorised as AEOs, which means they have gone through a list of checks which ensure that they have integrity and that none of their systems can be abused.” This comes with several benefits, said Gordhan. “If we have a bilateral agreement with the UK that any agency recognised in SA as an AEO will also be recognised by them, an AEO from South Africa whose goods are destined for the UK will be afforded green lane facilities.” The challenge now is how to set up those criteria and ensure they are compatible with international criteria, says Gordhan.