Seminar “First results of AEO implementation in Ukraine”

27/ 05/ 2021

On May 20, there was a seminar dedicated to the discussion of the first results of the introduction of authorized economic operators in Ukraine with the participation of experts from the AEO Support Office of the State Customs Service. View the video at the link. During the seminar, we talked about the nuances of preparing documents for the self-assessment questionnaire, the practical application of simplifications at the moment, the reasons for AEO status refusal, compliance assessment procedure, etc. The following practical recommendations were suggested at the meeting: 1. Plan sufficient time for the survey. Fill in the questionnaire thoughtfully and carefully, do not do it in a hurry. 2. Integrated process. Appoint a person responsible for completing the questionnaire, who will collect information from all departments and submit it in its entirety to the questionnaire. It is not recommended to have each department fills in its part without reviewing with each other. 3. Do a test check of the procedures. Ensure that the procedures described in the questionnaire do work in practice. 4. Timeliness. The State Customs Service agrees with the company on the assessment schedule beforehand. Therefore, it is possible to prepare scanned copies of policies in advance for smooth communication with authorities during the evaluation process. If the company has foreign beneficiaries – it will be necessary to think in advance about getting a certificate of no criminal record, as it is often a time-consuming process. 5. The State Customs Service urges not to be worried if certain inconsistencies are identified. The company will have the opportunity to eliminate or deny them before making a final decision. 6. Access to the accounting system. The most likely option is to provide access to the account directly in the workplace during the visit. 7. It is mandatory to comply with financial criteria. Foreign companies may face non-compliance with these criteria due to loans from parent companies. In this case, you can think about a debt-into-equity swap, and so on. 8. The company should clearly illustrate regular monitoring/control of tariff / non-tariff measures. For example, once a month to check declarations. The main thing is to have a procedure that works on a regular basis. The European Business Association is grateful to the leadership of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, as well as to Andriy Teplyi, the head of the AEO Support Office of the State Customs Service. We hope that the seminar will help companies to easily go through the procedure of obtaining the status of an authorized economic operator. We also want to draw attention to the fact that in case of prompt application, the companies may get in the queue for obtaining the AEO status already from November 2022. Be the first to learn about the latest EBA news with our Telegram-channel – EBAUkraine.

View the video at the link.

During the seminar, we talked about the nuances of preparing documents for the self-assessment questionnaire, the practical application of simplifications at the moment, the reasons for AEO status refusal, compliance assessment procedure, etc.

The following practical recommendations were suggested at the meeting:

1. Plan sufficient time for the survey. Fill in the questionnaire thoughtfully and carefully, do not do it in a hurry.

2. Integrated process. Appoint a person responsible for completing the questionnaire, who will collect information from all departments and submit it in its entirety to the questionnaire. It is not recommended to have each department fills in its part without reviewing with each other.

3. Do a test check of the procedures. Ensure that the procedures described in the questionnaire do work in practice.

4. Timeliness. The State Customs Service agrees with the company on the assessment schedule beforehand. Therefore, it is possible to prepare scanned copies of policies in advance for smooth communication with authorities during the evaluation process.

If the company has foreign beneficiaries – it will be necessary to think in advance about getting a certificate of no criminal record, as it is often a time-consuming process.

5. The State Customs Service urges not to be worried if certain inconsistencies are identified. The company will have the opportunity to eliminate or deny them before making a final decision.

6. Access to the accounting system. The most likely option is to provide access to the account directly in the workplace during the visit.

7. It is mandatory to comply with financial criteria. Foreign companies may face “non-compliance” with these criteria due to loans from parent companies. In this case, you can think about a debt-into-equity swap, and so on.

8. The company should clearly illustrate regular monitoring/control of tariff / non-tariff measures. For example, once a month to check declarations. The main thing is to have a procedure that works on a regular basis.

The European Business Association is grateful to the leadership of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, as well as to Andriy Teplyi, the head of the AEO Support Office of the State Customs Service. We hope that the seminar will help companies to easily go through the procedure of obtaining the status of an authorized economic operator. We also want to draw attention to the fact that in case of prompt application, the companies may get in the queue for obtaining the AEO status already from November 2022.

Be the first to learn about the latest EBA news with our Telegram-channel – EBAUkraine.