The EU Customs Reform introduces the Trust and Check trader status. These traders shall grant the customs authorities access to their electronic systems keeping record of their compliance and the movement of their goods. In return, they got certain benefits, notably the possibility to release the goods on behalf of customs and to defer the payment of the customs debt.

This proposed new status can be seen as an evolution of the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) authorization.

An EU importer or exporter, who meets the following criteria and has conducted regular customs operations for the last three years, may apply for the status of Trust and Check trader:

1. absence of any serious infringement or repeated infringements of customs legislation and taxation rules and no record of serious criminal offences;
2. demonstration by the applicant of a high level of control of his or her operations and of the flow of goods, by means of a system of managing commercial and transport records, which allows appropriate customs controls and evidence that non-compliance has been effectively remedied;
3. financial solvency;
4. practical standards of competence or professional qualifications directly related to the type and size of activity carried out;
5. appropriate security, safety and compliance standards, adapted to the type and size of the activity carried out;
6. having an electronic system providing or making available to the customs authorities real-time all data on the movement of the goods and the compliance with all requirements applicable on those goods, including relating to safety and security and including where relevant sharing in the EU Customs Data Hub.

Looking to article 25 of the UCC proposal, about ‘Granting the status of Trust and Check trader’, it seems that this status will be granted only to importer and exporter. However, article 27 (3) provides that ‘A customs representative having the status of Trust and Check trader shall only be recognized as such when acting as indirect representative. When acting as a direct representative, the customs representative may be recognized as Trust and Check trader if the person in whose name and on whose behalf that representative is acting has been granted such status’. 

In our point of view, who can become Trust and Check trader is confusing and should be clarified in the UCC proposal.

What are the benefits, listed in the UCC reform, to become a Trust and Check trader?

• Provide part of the data on his or her goods after the release of those goods
• Release of the goods on behalf of the customs authorities
• Perform certain controls on goods under customs supervision
• Consider that it provides the necessary assurance of the proper conduct of the operations for the purposes of obtaining authorisations for special procedures
• Periodically determine the customs debt corresponding to the total amount of import or export duty relating to all the goods released by that trader
• Defer the payment of the customs debt
• Be liable for the payment of customs duties, other taxes and other charges in the Member State of establishment and where the authorisation was granted
• No obligation to place in transit the goods entered in the EU until final destination, if the goods are under a duty suspensive regime
• Provide a comprehensive guarantee for potential customs debts and other charges with a reduced amount or to have a guarantee waiver
• Calculate the customs debt corresponding to the total amount of import or export duty relating to all the goods that this operator has released on behalf of the customs authorities during a period that shall not exceed 31 calendar days
• Enjoy more facilitations than other economic operators in respect of customs controls according to the authorisation granted, including fewer physical and document-based controls.

The status of authorised economic operator for customs simplifications (AEO-C) will be replaced by the Trust and Check trader status. The AEO-C authorisation can still be granted until 1 March 2024, but by 31 December 2037, customs shall assess if the AEO-C fulfil the conditions to become Trust and Check trader. If it does not fulfil these conditions, the AEO-C status is revoked.

It is always difficult to give a general answer to the question if this new status is interesting for companies or not. As usual, this status could be interesting for some companies and less for others. We think that it can be interesting for companies that are directly lodging the customs declaration without the use of a customs representative, but it could be interesting also for customs representatives. However, for customs representatives this status is interesting if the company they represent has also obtained this status… 

Please note that this is still a proposal and moreover we are still also waiting for a proposal for delegated and implementing act.