As part of trade facilitation measures, the Customs Department has drawn plans to organise road shows and outreach programmes on the scheme of Authorised Economic Operator (AEO), which is a crucial component of its Ease-of-Doing-Business (EODB) initiatives.
Though AEO certification is not mandatory for business entities, they are being asked to go for it in view of the advantages like minimal inspections and exemptions from some procedures and financial securities. The underlying objective is to speed up the transactions without compromising on transparency.
Customs Commissioner S.K. Rahman has recently written letters to those who participated in the outreach programmes conducted at 14 places seeking to know how many of them actually began the process of becoming AEOs and also to clear any apprehensions they might be having.
The biggestadvantageof an AEO, Mr. Rahman told The Hindu , is its treatment as secure and reliable trading partners in the global arena.
The Krishnapatnam Port Company Limited has become the only AEO in Andhra Pradesh in 2015 after the scheme was revised with the merger of Accredited Client Program (ACP) by the Central Board of Excise and Customs.
The nodal officers appointed by the Customs Commissionerate of A.P are following up the rollout of AEO, which is compliant with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade that was adopted more than a decade ago.
