AEO - Transition to the online system

As of 1 October 2019, applications for "Authorised Economic Operator" status (AEO) will have to be made electronically through the EU trader portal.

As of 1 October 2019, applications for "Authorised Economic Operator" status (AEO) will have to be made electronically through the EU trader portal.

Until 30 September 2019, AEO applications together with the Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) can be submitted to the competent customs authority by using the paper format.

However, from 1 October 2019, the transitional period set out by the EU legislation will end and it will be mandatory to submit the AEO application together with the SAQ electronically by using the EU Trader Portal for eAEO.

This EU harmonised trader interface designed by the EU Commission and the Member States shall be used for the exchange of information pertaining to applications and decisions related to AEO authorisations.

The purpose of the EU Trader Portal for eAEO is to facilitate and speed up the exchange of information related to AEO applications, decisions, authorisations and their management processes.

The EU Trader Portal for e-AEO will be deployed in two phases:

• Phase 1 for the submission of the AEO application and the decision-taking process, from 1 October 2019.
• Phase 2 for the other subsequent processes, from 15 December 2019.

The rule applicable to the transition (and to the exceptional paper procedure) is that:

• If a procedure is initiated on paper before 01 October 2019, it continues on paper;
• If it is initiated electronically from 01 October 2019 onwards, it continues electronically.

There will be a transition period after 1 October 2019 to allow the processing of existing paper applications not accepted yet. The transition period will be 60 days maximum (29 November included).
Indeed, considering a last paper application submitted on the 30 September 2019, the Customs authority has 30 days to accept or to ask for additional information. In that case the applicant has maximum 30 days to reply.
The maximum period to process a paper application submitted before 1 October 2019 is therefore 60 days from 1 October 2019.

Economic Operators need to obtain an “Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number” from their national customs administration if they do not have one already.

Economic Operators need to request a UUM&DS user account and password to authenticate in the EU Trader Portal for eAEO.
This process is decentralised to the national administrations of each Member State.

Contact your National Customs Administration to obtain your EORI number and your UUM&DS account if not done yet.

• More information on the AEO
• How to Apply