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Dear Members,   As you are aware, Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programme  seeks to provide tangible benefits in the form of  faster Customs clearances and simplified Customs procedures to those business entities who offer a high degree of security guarantees in respect of their role in the supply chain.   The Indian The Indian AEO Programme is governed by the Circular 33/2016- Customs dated 22.7.2016 which was amended vide Circular 3/2018- Cus) dated 17 January 2018.   We understand that  Multiple suggestions have been received by CBIC, wherein it has been emphasised that the compliance requirements for AEO T1 are not commensurate with the benefits allowed to AEO T1 entities. The suggestions also highlighted the fact that this has made it difficult to attract entities into the AEO fold.   Taking cognizance of the feed-back received,  Central Board of Excise & Customs (Directorate of International Customs)  has issued Circular No. 26/ 2018 Customs dated   August 10th 2018 whereby  it  has been decided that- The present Annexure for AEO T1 application i.e. Annexure A, C, D, E1,E2,E3 & E4 shall be hereby replaced with the Annexure 1 and Annexure 2 (enclosed with the circular). The processing by way of new annexures, annexure 1 & 2, will come in effect immediately. All the new applications for AEO T1 are to be mandatorily filed in form of the new annexures — annexure 1 & 2.   Alongside, to implement the simplified processing and to ensure its desired effectiveness, it is decided by the competent authority that the process of accreditation of AEO-T1 shall be decentralized to the Zonal level.   In this decentralized scheme of work, the AEO- T1 application will be filed with the Zonal AEO Cell (as already been done by virtue of Circular 3/2018- Cus). The said application will be processed by the Zonal AEO cell and the final acceptance or rejection will be decided by Zonal AEO Programme Manager [designated Pr. Commissioner/Commissioner rank officer in Customs Zone nominated by Pr. Chief Commissioner/ Chief Commissioner, Customs]. The Zonal AEO cells will only intimate the decision of Zonal AEO Programme Manager to Directorate of International Customs for generation of certificate [with relevant information of the applicant — Name, IEC Number & PAN] and statistics management.   However, for the application that have already been received by the Customs Zones prior to the of issuance of this circular, the Zonal AEO Programme Manager will have discretion to allow the processing of the application either by way of earlier annexures (Annexure A, C, D, El, E2, E3 & E4) or by way of new annexures (annexure 1 &2) on case to case basis.   Further, the digitization of processing of AEO T1 application is already underway. The online processing of AEO T1 application will commence as soon as the necessary digital infrastructure is in place. In the meantime, the processing of new AEO T1 application in form of the new annexures (annexure 1 &2) will come in effect immediately. This will ensure proper preparedness and adequate time to Customs Zones to take up necessary outreach to the trade, informing them about the relevant changes as well as imminent automation of AEO T1 application processing, before the process of transition to digitization is initiated.  The Board Circular No. 33/2015- Customs dated 22/7/2016 as amended stands modified.   Members are requested to take note of the Simplification and rationalization of processing of AEO-T1 application and benefit from the same.  The Circular No. 26/ 2018 Customs dated   August 10th 2018 is available for download/ reference using   below links:   26/2018 View(63 KB)   10-08-2018 F.No. D-20/DIC/AEO/16/2017 Simplification and rationalization of processing of AEO-T1 application http://cbic.gov.in/htdocs-cbec/customs/cs-circulars/cs-circulars-2018/Circular_No_26-2018-Customs-updated.PDF   Thanking you, Yours faithfully,    S.G BHARADI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CHEMEXCIL