Authorised Economic Operator status is an internationally recognised standard. It shows your business’s role in the international supply chain is secure and has customs control procedures that meet Authorised Economic Operator standards and criteria.
Quality mark for international Customs and trade. AEO is in two sections: AEOC Customs formalities and compliance and AEOS Supply Chain integrity and compliance. AEOC is far easier to obtain as it is mostly process and procedure driven. AEOS is far more complicated and involves everything down to type of fencing used and monitoring contract cleaners etc. AEOC is pretty much a national accreditation (it proves that you are Customs compliant in the applicant country) whereas AEOS is more beneficial for external trade.
Whilst AEO may not, initially, offer a string of benefits it does have a lot of financial advantages:-
1. 70% reduction in guarantee required for duty deferment account
2. 100% reduction in guarantee required for Union Transit.