The benefits and advantages related to the AEO status of economic operators have been widely spread. The most important being the reduced guarantee, quick change to emergency procedures and the good reputation of the AEO company with respect to security in their supply chain. But do you know that the status can be withdrawn, revoked or suspended?
In principle the AEO certificate is not time-limited. However, situations may arise which require the certificate to be reviewed. Customs administrations have two working methods to verify whether the conditions for AEO status are satisfactory, i.e. reassessment and monitoring.
Reassessment has been regulated by the CCIP and serves to verify that the AEO still meets the conditions at a certain point of time. It will usually be carried out if the legal situation changes or if there is evidence that the holder of the certificate does not meet or no longer meets the AEO criteria. In addition, the customs administration can perform monitoring. This possibility is also provided by the CCIP which permits checks to be carried out on an on-going basis and in the absence of a special event.
Withdrawal: It is possible to cancel or withdraw an AEO certificate when:
1/ it has been issued by an authority without requisite jurisdiction over the subject-matter; 2/ it has been obtained by unfair means such as deceit, threats or bribery; 3/ the beneficiary has obtained the status by providing information which was essentially incorrect or incomplete; 4/ the beneficiary was aware of its illegality, or was unaware thereof due to gross negligence.
Revocation: An AEO status may be revoked in whole or in part:
1/ if the economic operator has failed to take the necessary remedial measures to comply with the requirements of the relevant AEO certificate and therefore does not meet the certification requirements; 2/ when serious infringements related to customs rules have been committed by the AEO and there is no further right of appeal 3/ upon request of the AEO.
Suspension: The AEO status can be suspended for three different reasons:
1/ non-compliance with the conditions or criteria for AEO certification, where the customs authority established that the operator does not comply with the conditions or criteria for the AEO certificate. This covers cases where the conditions did not exist at the time of the certification. 2/ Sufficient reasons to believe that a criminal act took place such as fraud, money laundry or the forgery of documents. 3/ upon request of the AEO.
Customs authorities are to communicate their findings to the concerned economic operator before taking a decision. The economic operator is entitled to correct the situation and/or express his point of view within 30 calendar days, starting from the date of communication. In the event of non-compliance with the conditions for an AEO certificate, the operator may take measures such as remedying safety deficiencies, improving customs processes, reorganising his accounts or restoring solvency. However, such measures are not possible in the event of the second reason for suspension, that is, where the customs authorities have sufficient reason to believe that an AEO has committed an offence.
A field research on this topic on the Belgian territory learns that 19 companies have revoked their application and 8 applications have been refused so far. Reasons for revocation or refusal of application are often solvency or safety deficiencies.
On 16 June 2011, the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Conumer Protection (IMCO) hosts a public hearing on ‘Modernised Customs and Internal Market’.