Smart Business Seminar on Authorised Economic Operators Scheme

The Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) scheme, rolled out by the World Customs Organisation to facilitate global trade with lesser but efficient and easier framework, is a programme which small and medium scale exporters should look at grabbing if they want to be competitive and attractive to customers in future, say experts.

 

In the Business Standard Smart Business event organised in collaboration with Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO), Anil Nigam, Commissioner of Customs, Chennai, said, “AEO is a process to make exports trusted and simple, internationally. Like the GST eliminated a large number of check posts in the country, it is going to make the exports and imports easier and help exporters build reputation internationally”.
 

K Venkat Ram Reddy, Additional Director of National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics, explained the AEO compliance process and benefits. With an internationally recognised quality mark, exporters and importers can enjoy benefits including the direct port delivery of imports for just-in-time inventory management by manufacturers, deferred payment of duties, faster disbursal of drawback amount and fast tracking of refunds and adjudications, among others.
 

A large section of the exporters are in the small and medium segments and documentation and initial cost of compliance are some entry barriers. The organisation is working with the Customs Department and the exporters to guide them to get the recognition, which will help them grow better, said K Unnikrishnan, Deputy Director General, FIEO (Southern Region).
 

Beyond being a beneficial scheme, AEO helps exporters to organise themselves professionally and the processes will help to cut down the costs by 30-35 per cent, said Raghu Shankar, Executive Director of ICSAI Pvt. Ltd., and an industry expert. Apart from the cost benefit, it will cut down time, which will save money. AEO offers more internal benefits than the external benefits for the exporters. The Customs Department is acting as a facilitator rather than a regulatory agency, he added.
 

The AEO compliance is more like an ISO voluntary certification, which will speak volumes about the quality standards the exporter focuses on his operations and services, said V M Ponniah, Dean, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai. The merger of Accredited Client Programme (ACP) and AEO schemes has made it the best opportunity for the industry to be a trusted partner for the regulators and the clients, he said.