Starting in August, China Customs, Thailand Customs, and Benin Customs authorities have implemented mutual recognition arrangements for their "Authorized Economic Operator" (AEO) systems. The initiative makes customs clearance more convenient for goods imported from and exported to Thailand and Benin by Hunan-based companies, said the Changsha Customs Authority.

Recently, a batch of seamless oil casings and steel line pipes produced by the Hengyang Valin Steel Tube Co., Ltd. for oil extraction and transportation was shipped to Thailand after completing customs clearance. "In the first half of the year, our company exported 11,700 tonnes of seamless steel pipes to Thailand," said the company's customs manager. As an AEO enterprise in China, the AEO mutual recognition implemented by Chinese and Thai customs authorities helped reduced the import clearance time for this batch of steel pipes in Thailand by 40%.

According to the Changsha Customs Authority, the implementation of this mutual recognition will benefit 71 AEO companies in Hunan. These enterprises may enjoy lower import inspection rates, priority inspection for goods that need physical inspection, and priority clearance after international trade is interrupted and then resumes. This measure will effectively reduce the time and logistics costs of importing and exporting goods to and from Thailand and Benin, helping companies expand their foreign trade. In the first half of this year, Hunan's total import and export volume with Thailand and Benin was 7.25 billion CNY and 82 million CNY, respectively.

AEO stands for Authorized Economic Operator, which is translated into Chinese as "certified operator." AEO certification is known as the "green pass" in global trade. To date, China has implemented AEO mutual recognition with 52 countries (regions), ranking first in the world in implementing such arrangements.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn