Brussels, May 5. The Court of Auditors of the European Union highlighted this Friday that operators accredited by EU customs, which manage more than 80% of the Union’s exports and approximately three-quarters of imports, do not enjoy equal conditions in the community club.
The 27 do not grant all the advantages to these commercial operators, or do not do so in a uniform way, according to a report published today.
This program, launched in 2008, is characterized by its “solidity”, but it is not exempt from “gaps and insufficiencies”, points out the European Court of Auditors, which has carried out a complete audit of it for the first time focused on the Commission Union and five Member States: Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands.
“The AEO program is the customs seal of trust that EU customs give to reliable operators, but it needs to be better managed,” said Ildikó Gáll-Pelcz, a member of the Court of Auditors responsible for the report.
Specifically, the EU Court of Auditors criticizes that countries do not apply equal treatment to these trusted traders, despite the single market, which “increases financial and operational risks in customs activities and in the EU budget , contrary to the main objective of the program”.
And it is that, highlighted Gáll-Pelcz, “every second goods worth approximately 241,000 euros cross the external border customs of the EU”.
Likewise, the auditors detected that the performance of the program is not adequately measured, since the current information system is voluntary, it is not verified and it is incomplete.
Consequently, the auditors found that the European Commission does not adequately monitor whether Member States grant AEOs the benefits to which they are entitled, nor does it fully ensure that all Member States comply with customs law, nor does it systematically monitor how Member States apply the mutual recognition agreements that the EU has concluded with other countries such as the United States, China and the United Kingdom.
Spain, for example, does not recognize AEO status granted by other member states unless the operator is registered as a Spanish taxpayer, the auditors note.
The auditors point out that the greater the participation of reputable operators, the more secure the EU supply chain will be, and it also encourages legitimate trade, with favorable consequences for both the EU economy and budget, as operators of trust commit far fewer infractions.
The AEO program simplifies customs procedures for operators who consistently comply with tax and customs regulations and these, in return, receive preferential treatment at customs. For example, your checks are faster, are announced in advance, and take place at a location of your choice.
In this way, the program alleviates the bureaucratic burden, avoids unnecessary controls and protects the EU budget, since customs authorities can focus on controlling the highest-risk operators, the auditors recalled.
At the end of 2022 there were 18,210 authorized economic operators in the EU compared to 512 in 2008, when the program started. Germany had the highest volume, with 7,127 authorized operators, followed by France with 1,879 and Italy with 1,715, while Spain had 853.
The Court of Auditors finally highlighted that these authorized operators play an important role in EU trade: in 2020, they participated in 74% of the total volume of imports and 83% of exports from the EU. EFE
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