Whilst it is now over a year since the UK left the EU Customs Union, the fall out is still being felt and we continue to experience a high volume of enquiries. As a result we are operating on a 5 working day response time. Thank you for your patience.

Do You Have Any Clients That Import from / Export to China?

If so they need to be aware of a recent event which will affect them:

It has been announced that the EU & China have signed a mutual recognition agreement with regards to 'trusted trader' status – in the EU this is AEO.

What this means for UK businesses is that they have the opportunity to work with their Chinese counterparts to form 'secure' supply chains from a Customs perspective. This is important given that from 1st June 2016 EU Customs will be changing how they deal with Customs matters and 'trusted trader' status will give businesses distinct advantages both commercial and with HMRC when importing and exporting.

Although 1st June 2016 is still 2 years away the impact of AEO / 'trusted trader' status is something which businesses should at least be considering now.

All businesses that import from or export to non-EU countries but especially those dealing with the US and China should therefore at least be aware of AEO and how this affects them and for further information please contact David Miller who heads up our AEO Consultancy Service – or look at the AEO section of www.thecustomspeople.co.uk

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