As part of trade facilitation measures, the Customs Department has drawn plans to organise road shows and outreach programmes on the scheme of Authorised Economic Operator (AEO), which is a crucial component of its Ease-of-Doing-Business (EODB) initiatives.
Though AEO certification is not mandatory for business entities, they are being asked to go for it in view of the advantages like minimal inspections and exemptions from some procedures and financial securities. The underlying objective is to speed up the transactions without compromising on transparency. Customs Commissioner S.K. Rahman has recently written letters to those who participated in the outreach programmes conducted at 14 places seeking to know how many of them actually began the process of becoming AEOs and also to clear any apprehensions they might be having.