What is the AEO Certificate?

Bilal ALTUNTAŞ
Customs Consultant / Assistant Director of Consultancy Services

What is the AEO Certificate?

The Authorized Economic Operator Certificate, abbreviated as AEO, is a document issued to real or legal persons and public institutions and organizations that are resident in the Turkish Customs Area, including free zones, and have been actively operating for at least three years. To apply, it is necessary to prove that the following conditions are met.

1-There should be no criminal or conviction decisions regarding the company partners, board members, and authorized representatives. There should be no final accrual or penalty in terms of customs legislation, no debt in terms of tax legislation, and no debt in terms of social security legislation, at least one hundred declarations should have been processed in the customs administration within one year from the first day of the month of application,

2- It should be documented that the applicant's commercial and transportation records, if any, are reliable and traceable by the Ministry and that the system established to evaluate the results of this review has been sufficiently provided,

3- The applicant's financial structure should be examined by a sworn financial advisor based on the three years before the application year and a positive opinion should be included in the report,

4- For the applicant to be accepted as having appropriate safety and security standards, it should be documented that it has been sufficiently provided according to the examination to be conducted by the Ministry and the results of this examination.

5-Having valid ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certificates issued by conformity assessment bodies accredited by accreditation institutions that have signed mutual recognition agreements of the European Accreditation Union and bearing the brand of the accreditation body,

Where to Apply for an AEO Certificate?

An official application is made to the Regional Directorate to which the company is affiliated. If the evaluation result of the Regional Directorate is found positive, the application is sent to the Ministry. If the evaluation made by the Ministry is found appropriate, the company is referred to the Ministry Inspection Board for on-site inspection. The inspection result made by the Inspectors assigned by the Inspection Board is connected to a positive report, and from there, the AEO certificate is prepared and sent to the Regional Directorate to be delivered to the company. The Regional Directorate also prepares the document, defines the authorizations to benefit from simplified transactions in the BİLGİ system, and delivers the document to the company.