Circular No. ES/183/2020-21 5th June, 2020
To : Members of the Council
Sub: Extension of validity of AEO (Authorized Economic Operator) certification for ease of renewal process
Dear Member,
CBIC has issued Circular No. 27/2020- Customs dated 2nd June, 2020 extending the validity of AEO certification for ease of renewal process.
Background of the AEO (Authorized Economic Operator) Scheme :
A trade facilitation scheme for ease of doing business.
Holder of this AEO certificate is entitled for privilege, benefits, exemption and relaxation on account of import and export.
The certificate is issued for a particular period after that it needs to be renewed.
Enables Indian Customs to enhance and streamline cargo security through close cooperation with the principle stakeholders of the international supply chain viz. importers, exporters, logistics providers, custodians/terminal operators, custom brokers and warehouse operators.
The scheme is based on the principle of sharing role and responsibility of customs with trade and industry
The objective is to delink payment and clearance, to accept the paperless declaration, increases efficiency, self-certification, earliest refund and drawback, request based examination/ inspection etc.
Importers and exporters are issued a certificate based on three-tier certification i.e. AEO T1, AEO T2 and AEO T3,
AEO T3 is the highest level of accreditation with most benefits.
All three tiers provide for varying and incrementally increasing level of facilitation to the status holder.
There is one more category of AEO- LO that covers all other entities in the supply chain other than the importers and exporters.
CBIC vide Circular No.27 dated 2nd June, 2020, has drawn your attention to Para 5.1 Circular No. 33/2016-Customs dated 22.07.2016 amended vide Para viii of Circular 03/2018-Customs dated 17.01.2028, which relates to "Validity of AEO Certificate" and reads as —
"The validity of AEO certificate shall be three years for AEO-T1 and AEO-T2, and five year for AEO-T3 and AEO-LO"
CBIC has been receiving representation from the field formations regarding the difficulties faced by the AEO entities in renewing their existing certifications owing to the national lockdown and accordingly, Board has decided to extend the validity of all the AEO certificates expired/expiring between 01.03.2020 and 31.05.2020 to 30.06.2020, except for those entities against which a negative report is received during this period.
Members may kindly make a note of the above and avail the Certification of AEO and enjoy the benefits extended by the Scheme for ease of doing business.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
S.BALARAJU
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
