Authorized Economic Operators
In the Islamic Countries:
Enhancing Customs-Traders Partnership
24
Figure 2.7, there are 9 Regional Customs Headquarters (Hakodate, Kobe, Moji, Nagasaki,
Nagoya, Yokohama, Osaka, Okinawa and Tokyo) that have the ability to process and examine
applications and provide authorizations to applicants. Furthermore, Tokyo Customs are in
charge of overseeing the operation of the aforementioned regional offices to guarantee that the
AEO program is implemented in a consistent and harmonized way.
This scheme has three main advantages: first, it guarantees a wide coverage and an efficient
way to handle different applications since there are several offices across the country. Indeed,
Japan is one of the rarest countries where applications can be handled by regional offices not
by a centralized office. Second, Tokyo Customs ensures that the multitude of offices does not
alter the consistency of the whole program. Third, in order to make the whole process easier
and simpler in implementation, the Japanese Customs implemented a training program for
newly assigned AEO officers. These courses cover AEO policy, legal frameworks, and other
necessary procedures (authorization, validation, and audit). Moreover, at the regional level,
Japan’s Customs Authorities provide on-the-job training to make sure the AEO program is
uniformly implemented.
Mutual Recognition Agreements
The government of Japan deployed several efforts to develop partnerships with different AEO
programs across the world to have mutual preferential treatment, simplified Customs
procedures and quicker time to trade for economic operators complying with the supply chain
security standards. This is of particular importance as the perception of the Japanese
government is that the mutual recognition of AEO programs could maximize the benefits of
compliant stakeholders by exchanging relevant information.
Figure 2.8. Partners Having a Mutual Recognition Agreement
Source: Customs and Tariff Bureau and Ministry of Finance (2018).