Authorised Economic Operator

Customs

Trusted trader status granted by customs authorities to businesses meeting compliance, security, and reliability standards.

Sources

1. World Customs Organization — SAFE Framework of Standards wcoomd.org accessed 23 September 2026

The AEO concept lives inside the WCO’s SAFE Framework of Standards, adopted, in the WCO’s words, “to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade” and intended as “a deterrent to international terrorism, secure revenue collections and promote trade facilitation worldwide”. Conditions and requirements for customs administrations and Authorized Economic Operators were added to the framework in 2007.

The WCO page cited does not define an AEO, so the description above is this lexicon’s summary. What AEO status actually grants is set by each customs administration and by mutual recognition agreements between them — India’s AEO programme is CBIC’s.

Related terms

• Advance Authorisation
• Anti-Dumping Duty
• ATA Carnet
• Bill of Entry
• Binding Tariff Information
• Common External Tariff

From the AJG lexicon archive (July 2026).