15
Figure 2.2. Number of Countries with an Implemented AEO Program (by region), 2017
Source: Constructed by the authors using WCO (2018).
It is important to note that, in order to qualify as an AEO, it is necessary that the company or
the operator meets the criteria specified by the Customs of the country in question, including
having appropriate records of compliance with Customs requirements and a satisfactory
management system of commercial records. By observing the total number of operators by
region, Figure 2.3 shows that Asia and Pacific have the highest number of operators (94
percent of the operators are in China (35,778) followed by Japan (664) and India (432)). In
Europe, the EU-28 have 19,001 operators followed by Moldova (140) and Switzerland (111).
In the Americas, as it was mentioned before, 96.5 percent of operators are located in NAFTA
countries (with the USA, 11,605 operators, Canada 1,838 and Mexico 757). In the MENA
region, while Morocco has 439 operators, Egypt has 124. East and Southern Africa are still
under-represented in AEO programs with a total of 4 countries and 113 operators.
Figure 2.3. Total Number of Operators in AEO Program (by region), 2017
Source: Constructed by the authors using the World Customs Organization dataset.
4
5
9
12
16
East and Southern Africa
MENA
Europe
Asia Pacific
Americas and Caribbean
113
686
14,714
19,491
38,158
East and Southern Africa
MENA
Americas and Caribbean
Europe
Asia Pacific