Section 3

Eligibility conditions and criteria for granting the AEO certificate

3.3 Managing commercial and (where appropriate) transport records:

The applicant should have a satisfactory system of managing commercial and, where appropriate, transport records. To enable the AEO Programme Manager to establish that the applicant indeed has such a system, the applicant shall:

i. Maintain an accounting system consistent with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) / International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) which facilitates audit-based Customs control;

ii. Have an administrative set up which corresponds to the type and size of business and which is suitable for the management of the flow of goods, and have internal controls capable of detecting illegal or irregular transactions;

iii. Wherever applicable, have satisfactory procedures in place for the handling of licenses and authorizations connected to export/import;

iv. Have satisfactory procedures in place for archiving of the company’s records and information, and also for protection against the loss of information;

v. Ensure that employees are made aware of the need to inform the Customs authorities whenever compliance difficulties are discovered and establish suitable contacts to inform the Customs authorities of such occurrences;

vi. Have satisfactory procedures for verifying the accuracy of Customs declarations.

vii. Have appropriate information technology security measures to protect the applicant’s computer system from unauthorized intrusion and to secure the applicant’s documentation.