CBIC introduces liberalised Authorised Economic Operator package for MSMEs

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) on Thursday said it has introduced liberalised Authorised Economic Operator package for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) for swift customs clearances.

In order to attract MSMEs to become Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs) and avail various benefits, the CBIC has relaxed the compliance criteria provided the MSMEs have a valid certificate from their line-ministry.  

The relaxed requirements allow MSMEs who have filed minimum 10 customs clearance documents in one year and who have a clean compliance record over 2 years to apply for the scheme, the CBIC said in a statement. 

"The documentary requirements have also been appreciably simplified. Another feature is that the CBIC commits to take a decision on an application for grant of AEO status within only 15 days from electronic submission of complete documents for AEO Tier 1. Additional benefits, like further reduction in Bank Guarantee requirements, have been introduced for MSMEs, and will be expanded subsequently," it said.

CBIC's flagship 'Liberalised MSME AEO Package' scheme is a voluntary compliance programme which enables swifter Customs clearance for accredited stakeholders in the global supply chain namely importers, exporters, logistic service providers, custodians etc, it said.

The approved AEOs derive various benefits including the facility of Direct Port Delivery (DPD) of imported containers, Direct Port Entry (DPE) of their Export Containers, high level of facilitation in customs clearance of their consignments thereby ensuring shorter cargo release time, exemption from bank guarantees, as well as a Client Relationship Manager at the customs port as a single point of interaction.