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Third, the AEO program in Japan also addressed the SMEs specific needs. Indeed, the Japanese
AEO program granted SMEs the quasi-full procedural benefits of AEO status by taking
advantage of authorized logistic service providers’ competency to manage the supply chain
through Customs broker’s regime. This allows both SMEs to avoid investment costs that can be
significantly high for them and Customs brokers to provide services for SMEs.
As per the European Union, its AEO program has managed to align itself with security and
compliance programs in other governmental agencies. With the shift to paperless Customs
procedures, efficiency of AEOs is expected to rise and better risk management is to take place.
In the EU, the AEO program has been operational for 10 years, which has witnessed a
significant increase in the number of operators. Despite their mere share of 37 percent of total
operators in Europe, these AEOs are involved in 50 percent of the EU’s trade (exports and
imports) (Layec, 2016). This could have two meanings. First, these AEOs could be composed of
the largest businesses, traders and other involved stakeholders across the EU, controlling for a
major share of the EU’s trade. This interpretation would mean that SMEs are essentially left
out of the AEO program. Another interpretation is that AEO membership facilitates trade for
these operators, leading to their increased share in trade and trade-related activities in the EU.
As it shown in Figure 2.11, cost to import and to export declined substantially for the EU.
Figure 2.11. Cost to export and to import in the European Union
Source: Constructed by the authors using the Doing Business dataset
In Canada, the CBSA underwent a significant reorganization in 2010, changing its
responsibilities for the PIP program. This reorganization has resulted in a number of
achievements leading to the success of the AEO program. The last PIP program evaluation took
place in 2012. Since this date, not much has been available on the evolution of the PIP program.
In a recent presentation by the CBSA at the WCO Global Conference (2018) a number of key
issues related to further enhancements of the PIP program were presented. These include the
following:
 Further simplification of the objectives of the program, and a better alignment with
other initiatives
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1250
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Cost to export Cost to import