Gordhan reveals plans for pilot AEO project in SA

PLANS ARE afoot to pilot the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) concept in South Africa in the near future, SA Revenue Service commissioner Pravin Gordhan told a packed audience at last week’s SA Association of Freight Forwarders conference at Emperor’s Palace in Gauteng. Devised by the World Customs Organisation, in essence the concept is designed to afford accredited operators the benefits of fewer customs stops based on a set of internationallyrecognised compliance criteria. “We have the policy design,” Gordhan said. “We are now benchmarking ourselves against other countries like the US, Canada, UK and New Zealand, and are confident we have a reasonable policy framework. “We are looking into the detail about how the implementation would work in S A and what technology would be required in order to move in this direction.” While AEO within a country is one aspect, the concept has true benefit if you have mutual recognition, Gordhan explained. “The AEO in S outh Africa has one set of usefulness with your clients – but it will be more useful if we have mutual recognition agreements going. And we need to do our homework with you and your clients to get a pilot going.” According to Gordhan at least one country has shown interest in participating in a pilot project. “We have selected an industry and identified a firm that operates in both countries. We’ve also got a broad policy framework that we need to look at and we can do some of the preparatory work later this year. It’s a concept that needs to be approached with boldness and with caution.” The AEO concept is part of the Framework of Standards adopted by the World Customs O rganisation, which is currently chaired by Gordhan. The principles are to improve the mutual sharing of information, facilitate trade and enhance the ability of Customs authorities around the world to meet their treasury role.