Companies based in the European Union and involved in customs operations, i.e. also operating outside the European Internal Market, can apply for the status of Authorised Economic Operator (AEO).
An Authorised Economic Operator has a special status, is considered to be particularly reliable and trustworthy and can therefore benefit from special advantages in security-related customs controls and/or simplifications in accordance with customs legislation.
The status can be granted in different variants:

• AEO Certificate "Customs Simplification" (AEO C)
• AEO Certificate "Security" (AEO S)
• AEO Certificate "Customs Simplifications/Security" (AEO F)

Authorised economic operators may benefit from the following advantages:

• For certain customs simplifications (e.B simplified declaration procedure, local clearance procedure), the conditions do not have to be re-examined in the case of Authorised Economic Operators, as these conditions were already checked when the AEO certificate was issued. This speeds up the authorisation procedures and makes it easier for companies operating throughout Europe to obtain authorisations in other Member States, as the AEO certificate is recognised in all Member States of the Community.
• Holders of an AEO certificate S or F are allowed to file entry and exit summary declarations (so-called pre-clearance applications) with reduced data sets, unlike economic operators who are not in possession of an AEO certificate S or F.
• Holders of an AEO certificate are less likely to inspect goods or documents. If further examination is nevertheless required after the risk analysis, this will be carried out as a matter of priority and the licence holder of an AEO certificate S or F can be informed of this in advance.
• According to the already existing Modernised Customs Code (MCC), some customs simplifications (e.B reduction of the amount of the guarantee, use of centralised customs clearance) are subject to the fulfilment of AEO authorisation requirements.

Preconditions

• So far appropriate compliance with customs regulations (Art. 14h CC-DVO)
• satisfactory system for keeping the accounts and, where appropriate, the transport documents (Art. 14i CC-DVO)
• Proven solvency (Art. 14j CC-DVO)

Only to be fulfilled by AEO S and AEO F:

• Suitable safety standards (Art. 14k CC-DVO)