The United States and the United Kingdom have reached agreement on the formal recognition of one another’s authorized economic operator programs. According to the British International Freight Association, the move that will strengthen end-to-end supply chain security.
Under the terms of the arrangement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will accept the validation of UK Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) and grant them approval status in the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT). At the same time, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will accept the validation of the USA’s Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) members.
HRMC said yesterday that the deal was a “great achievement” and had been 3 years in the making.
William A. Ferrara, Executive Assistant Commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations, added that the new arrangement would take supply chain security to the “next level”.
This arrangement will take U.S.-UK cooperation on supply chain security to the next level. Mutual recognition of the U.S. and UK authorized economic operator programs will mitigate risks, improve information sharing, and eliminate red tape for our partners in the trade community.
As explained by the British International Freight Association, the mutual recognition arrangement builds on the Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement (CMAA) that the United States and the United Kingdom concluded in December 2020.
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