TRADE PARTNER RECOGNITION - Faster, better, cheaper
May 14.05.2012, XNUMX - "Today's agreement is an important step for trade relations between the EU and the US," said the EU Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Algirdas Šemeta, on Friday last week. The Lithuanian politician is referring to the recently agreed agreement between the European Union and the United States of America. These have formally agreed to mutually recognize their "safe dealers". At present, around five thousand companies are considered safe traders in the EU, although it is formally correctly called “authorized economic operators”. These companies will benefit from faster controls and customs clearance in the future. They can also hope for lower costs and simplified processes.
Authorized economic operators
As part of the security changes to the Customs Code, since 2008 the member states of the EU have been able to grant every economic operator the status of an “authorized economic operator” (AEO). Safe and reliable companies operating in international trade are given this status at EU level. The prerequisite for this is that the company has adequate security standards and is solvent. A company that is registered as an authorized economic operator benefits from customs simplifications. Around five thousand companies are registered as Authorized Economic Operators in the European Union and the number is increasing every year. The certification is recognized by all EU member states and thus the ZWB can also enjoy the benefits across national borders.
Improving trade opportunities
The authorized economic operators can look forward to the new agreement - it accelerates and benefits transatlantic trade. Currently, the EU and the US have annual imports and exports worth almost 500 billion euros. The aim of the agreement, which was signed on May 04th, is to further expand trade opportunities. The contract is intended to ensure that the movement of goods goes smoothly and is not blocked by complex security measures. At the same time, the mutual recognition is intended to improve the general security of trade, since the customs authorities will in future be able to concentrate on the actual risk areas with the new regulation. Recognized economic operators in the EU are granted discounts when exporting to the US market. In return, the certified members of the US Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) also have cheaper import conditions into the EU. The mutual recognition of trading partners is seen as an important step towards the global harmonization of customs practices and procedures.
Targeted security controls
The EU Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Algirdas Šemeta, considers the agreement to be a great step forward: “At a time when companies need as much support as possible, this agreement will mean that many transatlantic traders will do business become lighter and cheaper ”. The EU Commissioner also sees the agreement as an opportunity to improve security standards: "It will also help ensure that security controls for merchandise are more targeted and effective, and thus the protection of every individual citizen guaranteed by customs is further improved".
Rise in world trade
The great advances in communication and production seem to break the borders between countries. World trade continues to increase and has experienced tremendous growth, especially in the last ten years. Alone between 2010 and 2011, international trade has increased by 19,4 percent. The logistics system for intercontinental trade is becoming increasingly complex and complicated. As a result, customs administrations are forced to adapt their instruments for controlling and controlling international trade to the accelerated markets. In this regard, the recognition of an Authorized Economic Operator (2008) has already made tremendous progress. Companies that are recognized as ZWB are officially in line with the high safety standards. Certified companies are also considered to be trustworthy trading partners in customs controls and are thus subjected to fewer physical checks. By reducing the export costs the operation on top of that still transport costs. Not only the companies, but also the customs administrations of the EU benefit from the new regulations. In future, they will be able to concentrate more on controlling risky transactions.
Negotiations with other countries
But with the recent agreement it is not enough. The EU endeavors to ensure that all major trading partners recognize the status of reliable economic operators. Both Switzerland and Norway and Japan have already accepted EU certification. China is currently negotiating a similar agreement.
(European-cirle.de)
