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a period of more than 12 months is granted upon a consistent demonstration of compliance in
three consecutive years.
The application period for a company takes between 30-90 days. As Customs guide the
company for compliance in case the company is not ready for holding the AEO status, the
period may be much longer. The estimated time spent on the authorization process is between
30-60 months for the URA.
4.3.3.3. Customs - Trade Partnership Initiatives
The first initiative that is employed by the URA is Compliance Improvement Plan (CIP). The
aim of CIP is to improve the company to be in line with the requirements of the AEO. If the
company shows an interest in the AEO program but is found lacking in some of the
requirements it is put on a CIP. A report stating the grounds for putting the client on a CIP is
shared with the applicant. The two teams (URA & the applicant’s management team) meet and
agree on the CIP. After an agreed CIP period the URA AEO team conducts a re-inspection to
confirm if the agreed upon control measures have been implemented. If the results of
inspection are satisfactory, the applicant is granted the AEO status.
There are other methods that the URA employs for a strong Customs-Trade partnership. First,
CRMs work to ensure AEOs get the benefits they are entitled to. Second, the URA regularly
holds feedback engagements with the AEOs’ respective Customs Teams and Cross Border
Regulatory Agencies. Third, there are sensitizations and training of Customs staff, AEOs and
CBRAs. Finally, there are two groups that regularly hold meetings; the AEO National Working
Group (NWG) and the Regional Consultative Group.
4.3.3.4. Training and Capacity Building
The officers working in the AEO unit have undertaken AEO validators’ training and transfer
this knowledge to other Customs officers. Moreover, sensitizations for businesses were
conducted.
There is a training planning unit of both regional and national AEO programs. The project
managers of the unit determine the training needs of the officers and AEO clients and plan
annual training programs.
4.3.4. Evaluation of the AEO Program
URA monitors the authorized economic operators to learn, account internally for resources
used and results obtained and make decisions. Evaluation is done for the purposes of
relevance, effectiveness, efficiency as well as impact and sustainability. Evaluation also allows
a better identification of the relative strengths and weaknesses of an AEO and helps focus on
setting the reform objectives, establishing priorities and sequencing implementation. Figure
4.10 summarizes the principles that guide the monitoring and evaluation processes in URA.
URA uses various tools to monitor and evaluate the AEO program:
 Information technology development with software like ASYCUDA, Etax, Ehub, RECTS,
ECTS
 Reporting tools for all AEO’s monthly reports (Key Performance Indicators reports)