Section 1

General Provisions

1.5 Benefits of an AEO Certificate

The scope of the benefits to the AEOs based on their categories would be as mentioned below:

1.5.1 Benefits for AEO-T1:

i. They shall be accorded high level of facilitation in imports and export of their consignments, thereby ensuring shorter cargo release time.

ii. Facility of Direct Port Delivery (DPD) of their import Containers and/ or Direct Port Entry (DPE) of their Export Containers would be available to them. However, this facility will be dependent on the volume of their Import/ Export trade in terms of number of containers.

iii. ID cards to be granted to authorized personnel for hassle free entry to Custom Houses, CFSs and ICDs.

iv. Wherever feasible, they will get separate space earmarked in Custodian’s premises.

v. In case they are required to furnish a Bank Guarantee, the quantum of the Bank Guarantee would be 50% of that required to be furnished by an importer/ exporter who is not an AEO Certificate Holder. However, this exemption from Bank guarantee would not be applicable in cases where the Competent Authority orders furnishing of Bank Guarantee for provisional release of seized goods.

vi. Investigations, if any, in respect of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax cases would be completed, as far as possible, in six to nine months.

vii. Dispute resolution at the level of Adjudicating Authorities in respect of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax cases would be done preferably and as far as possible within six months.

viii.²[They will not be subjected to regular transactional PCA, instead of that onsite PCA will be conducted once in three years only.]

^[helldodold[They will not be subjected to regular transactional PCA, instead of that onsite PCA will be conducted once in two years only.]^helldod]

ix. They will get an e-mail regarding arrival/ departure of the vessel carrying their consignments.

x. 24/7 clearances on request at all sea ports and airports – No Merchant Overtime Fee (MOT) charges need to be paid.

¹[xi. 'In accordance with the conditions laid down in Para 4.07A of FTP 2015-2020, where there is no SION/valid Ad-hoc Norms for an export product and where SION has been notified but exporter intends to use additional inputs in the manufacturing process, eligible exporter, who is an AEO, can apply for an Advance Authorisation under this scheme on self declaration and self ratification basis']

1.5.2 Benefits for AEO-T2:

The following benefits would be provided over and above the benefits offered in T1:

i. They shall be accorded higher level of facilitation (as compared to AEO-T1 in imports and export of their consignments.

ii. For Importers/Exporters not opting for DPD/DPE, seal verification/scrutiny of documents by Custom officers would be waived. Consignments would be given out of charge or let export order, as the case may be, without any scrutiny by the officers.

iii. The containers selected for scanning will be scanned on priority, by giving front line of treatment.

iv. Facility of deferred payment of duty will be provided, from a date to be notified

v. Faster disbursal of drawback amount within 72 hours of EGM submission, from a date to be notified

vi. The BEs/SBs selected for Assessment and/or Examination will be processed on priority by the Customs officers.

vii. Facility of self -sealing of export goods would be allowed without the requirement to seek case to case base permission from the authorities

viii. Faster completion of Special Valuation Branch (‘SVB’) proceedings in case of related party imports and monitoring of such cases for time bound disposal in terms of new guidelines

ix. In case they are required to furnish a Bank Guarantee, the quantum of the Bank Guarantee would be 25% of that required to be furnished by an importer/ exporter who is not an AEO Certificate Holder. However, this exemption from Bank guarantee would not be applicable in cases where the Competent Authority orders furnishing of Bank Guarantee for provisional release of seized goods.

x. They will be given facility to paste MRP stickers in their premises.

xi. They will not be subjected to regular transactional PCA instead of that onsite PCA will be conducted once in three years only.

xii. They will be given access to their consolidated import/export data through ICEGATE from a date that would be communicated separately.

xiii. They will be provided the facility of submitting paperless declarations with no supporting documents in physical form.

xiv. All Custom Houses will appoint a “Client Relationship Manager”(CRM) at the level of Deputy / Assistant Commissioner as a single point of interaction with them. The CRM would act as voice of the AEO within Customs in relation to legitimate concerns and issues of AEO and would assist in getting procedural and operational issues resolved by coordinating with different sections within Customs as well as other stakeholders.

xv. The refund/Rebate of Customs/Central Excise duty and Service Tax would be granted within 45 days of the submission of complete documents.

xvi. They will get trade facilitation by a foreign Customs administration with whom India enters into a Mutual Recognition Agreement/Arrangement.

1.5.3 Benefits for AEO-T3:

The following benefits would be provided over and above the benefits offered in T2:

i. They shall be accorded highest level of facilitation, as compared to AEO-T2, in imports and export of their consignments.

ii. Their containers will not be selected for scanning except on the basis of specific intelligence. Further when any container is selected for scanning, top most priority will be given for scanning.

iii. The assessing/examining custom officer will rely on the self-certified copies of documents submitted by them without insisting upon original documents.

iv. They would not be required to furnish any Bank Guarantee. However, this exemption from Bank guarantee would not be applicable in cases where the Competent Authority orders furnishing of Bank Guarantee for provisional release of seized goods.

v. An approach based on Risk based interventions, in case of requirements originating from the Acts administered by other Government Agencies/Departments, will be adopted for providing better facilitation in imports and export of their consignments.

vi. On request, they will be provided on-site inspection /examination.

vii. The refund/Rebate of Customs/Central Excise duty and Service Tax would be granted within 30 days of the submission of complete documents.

1.5.4 Benefits for AEO-LO:

1.5.5 With a view to promote an overall voluntary compliance framework, the selection of AEO’s for on-site post clearance audit (OSPCA) in respect of AEO-T1, AEO-T2 and AEO-T3 shall be based on risk assessment. Better and higher compliance level demonstrated by the AEO shall be taken into account for determining the frequency of audit. It is also clarified that AEO’s undergoing OSPCA shall not be subjected to routine transactional PCA. Detailed guidelines on risk based OSPCA will be issued subsequently.

1. Inserted Vide:- Circular No. 3/2018-Customs Dated 17/01/2018

2. Substitute Vide:- Circular No. 51/2018-Customs Dated 07/12/2018