The United States and United Kingdom governments agreed to a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) of its Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Programs, which will allow the facilitation of bilateral foreign trade and the strengthening of the logistics chain of goods between both countries, reported this Thursday (21.01.2021/XNUMX/XNUMX) the Customs and Border Protection .
“This agreement will take U.S.-U.K. cooperation on supply chain security to the next level,” said William A. Ferrara, Executive Assistant Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations. He added: “Mutual recognition of the U.S. and U.K. Authorized Economic Operator programs will mitigate risks, improve information sharing, and eliminate red tape for our partners in the trading community.”
The UK Treasury Office said: “This is a major achievement and testament to three years of hard work by US Customs and Border Protection and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs officials to ensure that US and UK AEO traders can continue to benefit from our trading relationship.”
Authorized Economic Operator programs enable low-risk members of the trading community, who meet internationally recognized supply chain security standards, to enjoy the benefits of trade facilitation. US Customs and Border Protection will therefore accept validation from UK Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs) and grant them approved status under the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT). At the same time, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs will also accept validation from CTPAT members and grant them approved status as AEOs.
CTPAT is a voluntary public-private partnership through which members of the trade community cooperate with CBP to protect the supply chain, identify security gaps, and implement specific security measures and best practices. By meeting these strict requirements, its members enjoy benefits that include risk mitigation and shorter wait times at U.S. borders. The initiative was created in 2001 and currently includes more than 11400 certified partners throughout the trade community.
AEO certification is an internationally recognized quality mark that indicates that a company's role in the international supply chain is secure and that it has customs control procedures that comply with international standards and criteria.
This Mutual Recognition Agreement is based on that of Customs Mutual Assistance (CMAA) that the United States and the United Kingdom concluded in December 2020. These bilateral agreements provide a legal framework for the exchange of information and evidence to assist countries in the enforcement of customs laws, especially in relation to tax evasion, trafficking, proliferation, money laundering and terrorism-related activities.
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