The Director of the Chilean Customs Service, José Ignacio Palma, and the Deputy Director General of the Business Management Department of the Chinese Customs, Zhang Xiuqing, signed the Mutual Recognition Agreement under which companies from both countries that have been certified as Authorized Economic Operators They will obtain benefits such as reduced inspection times and rates for import and export products., among others.
The virtual ceremony was attended by Undersecretary of Finance, Alejandro Weber, who emphasized that “we have faced difficult times due to the pandemic; for Chile it has been particularly painful because we have lost many lives and nearly 2 million jobs, but today our economy is beginning to recover. China is undoubtedly our main trading partner and last year it had a 37,2% share of our exports, which is why the signing of this agreement is so important. The Authorized Economic Operator Programs play a very important role because they allow us to facilitate and expedite commercial operations and with that, advance in the promotion and commitment to the security of the international supply chain. It is a great public-private effort that allows us to predict good spaces for development in the future.”
In turn, the National Director of Customs, José Ignacio Palma, pointed out that “to get to this point, a great deal of work was carried out by the OEA teams of both customs administrations, which began in March 2019. This signature opens up a range of benefits to those operators who are willing to be certified, ranging from the acceleration of the clearance of goods to the prioritization for the physical inspection of the goods; in short, speed, efficiency and prestige for companies, at a time when we are all putting our best efforts to contribute to the economic recovery.”
In his speech, Zhang Xiuqing, Deputy Director General of the Department of Enterprise Management and Post-Audit of China Customs, highlighted the trade figures with our country. “Chile is China’s second largest trading partner in South America. The two sides maintain a close relationship in the field of economic and trade cooperation. According to statistics, the total import and export volume between China and Chile has reached 30.900 billion US dollars in the first half of 2021, with a year-on-year growth of 49,6%. Within the total volume, export to Chile is 11.400 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 78,4%, while import from Chile is 19.300 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 36,6%. In the same period of time, there are a total of 775 Chinese AEO companies exporting to Chile, with an export volume of 2.900 billion US dollars, accounting for 18,3% of the total volume of China’s exports to Chile.”
The representative of the Chinese Customs suggested that the signing of this agreement be a new starting point for further strengthening cooperation, completing all preparations for the implementation of this mutual recognition at an accelerated pace.
El Mutual Recognition Agreement, MRA, is a mechanism developed by Customs Administrations around the world, This allows validations and authorizations granted to an Authorized Economic Operator in the country to be recognized by other countries. This extends the granting of benefits, making them mutual, so that the Operator in turn receives benefits in the countries with which this type of agreement is signed.
El The AEO program in Chile has been regulated since 2017 and from 2018 to date, 20 customs agents, 2 importing companies, 1 express mail company and 3 exporting companies have been certified.. Currently there is one more exporter that is completing the process to obtain its certification.
Operators who have accepted this Customs challenge have undergone reviews and audits of their processes that guarantee risk control and the security of the foreign trade operations they carry out.
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