The impact of the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status on the Maltese trading community

Abstract

The AEO program was launched in 1 st January 2008 as a trade facilitation measure for operators established in the EU. Its primary aim was to enhance security through granting of certificates to reliable operators, whilst encouraging good conduct internationally. The objective of this paper is to determine the perceived financial worthiness of the AEO status. The legal basis of the program, definition of AEO and what benefits are enjoyed from the granting of an AEO certificate were treated in the first part of this paper so as to give an overview of the AEO program. Primary data was obtained through semi-structured questionnaires with the twelve local AEOs and a comparison of answers has been made, together with any comments in relation to replies. This paper concludes that while it is worthwhile having any AEO status, there is still much progress to be done. It continues to put forward some suggestions which can be implemented or discussed at an EU high level meeting with other MS. The suggestions compiled have been expressed mainly through actual AEOs who, in the course of business, have noted a deficiency in the system and from any other concerns which they had.