On March 7, in Australia, the GACC delegation signed the Action Plan of Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Mutual Recognition with Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

The Action Plan sets out the steps and timetable for AEO mutual recognition between China Customs and Australian Customs, marking the formal start of the mutual recognition to enhance China-Australia trade facilitation and cooperation. According to statistics, during 2016, there were 69,671 Chinese firms trading with Australia, with import-export value totaling USD103.298 billion. Among them, the 1,708 Chinese AEOs had trade value around USD35.634 billion, accounting for 34.5% of the total value.

The AEO system is now an international customs practice. In recent years, China Customs has been vigorously promoting AEO mutual recognition with foreign Customs. At present, the mutual recognition has been achieved with 32 countries/regions including 28 EU member states, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong SAR, and Switzerland. In 2016, China’s exports to the 32 countries/regions accounted for about 45% of its gross export.

With the mutual recognition, Chinese AEO enterprises can get customs convenience in the above countries/regions, effectively reducing trade costs like port handling, insurance and logistic fees. For example, in the EU territory, the goods from 3,000 Chinese AEOs can be cleared as conveniently as the goods of EU AEOs; by statistics, the Customs inspection rate has come down by 50% and clearance efficiency has got up by 30% and more.

Now, China Customs is managing to achieve AEO mutual recognition with the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Russia and other trading partners as well as with the countries like Israel and Malaysia along the Belt and Road in order to increase customs conveniences for Chinese AEOs at home and abroad, reducing their clearance cost and boosting their international competitiveness.