Davies Turner calls for more UK companies to gain AEO status

Three years after becoming one of the first multimodal forwarders in Europe to gain AEO accreditation, Davies Turner has issued a rallying cry for more UK companies to follow suit.

Davies Turner was approved as a fully Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) just eighteen months after Davies Turner Air Cargo became one of the first AEO-accredited companies anywhere in the EU.

According to Davies Turner chairman Philip Stephenson, British operators who fail to gain AEO status risk falling behind the greater AEO commitment in the rest of Europe.

"AEO status should not just be seen as a security bolt-on to a freight forwarder’s services, but as an integral component in the way the company functions and serves its clients," said Stephenson.

Recent figures show that Germany has upwards of 2,500 AEO accredited export/import companies, while around just 250 British operators and traders have AEO status. The UK’s figure is surpassed by numbers in Poland and Italy, and is equal to that of Sweden – which has a fraction of the U.K’s population.

Stephenson believes that UK companies are concerned that the application, compliance and accreditation process is hard, time-consuming and costly, all of which are deterrents to applying for AEO status. "I would suggest that managers deciding on whether to put their companies forward look at the AEO process from a different perspective," he said. "In the course of winning accreditation, there is a great opportunity to examine how you work, revitalise your internal systems and use the occasion to redefine your business practices."

There is now a further commercial incentive to become accredited due to the growing pressure in Europe to align and harmonise Customs practices amongst all member states, which may force UK shippers and importers benefiting from Customs procedures such as IPR and OPR to provide financial guarantees.

These are already required in the rest of Europe, except for companies with AEO status, which enables a 100% reduction/waiver, or else can demonstrate sufficient compliance with AEO criteria to benefit from a 50% reduction. It is therefore worth noting that use of such procedures may, in future, require compliance with the same standards required for AEO.

Quelle: eyefortransport
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