Established Taiwanese enterprises with AEO(authorized economic operator)status,such as HTC,will enjoy the preferential treatment of minimum inspection and fast customs clearance for goods shipped to the U.S.in three months,at the longest,as Taiwan and the U.S.already signed the AEO mutual acknowledgement agreement in Washington D.C.on November 26.
The Taiwan-U.S.AEO agreement,the first such agreement signed by Taiwan,will pave the way for Taiwan to sign similar agreement with other countries,including mainland China,according to the Ministry of Finance(MOF),which is reportedly negotiating with three to four countries for the agreement.
According to the agreement,Taiwan will also provide similar preferential treatment to U.S.goods shipped to Taiwan.The Directorate General of Customs,MOF,estimated that the preferential treatment will enable U.S.AEO enterprises to save NT$8,000 of inspection fee for each container and cut the customs-clearance time by at least four hours.
The Taiwan-U.S.agreement will benefit 172 Taiwanese enterprises with AEO status.The MOF noted that in addition to rapid customs clearance for shipment to the U.S.,the agreement will help those AEO enterprises carry out logistic management,establish just-in-time supply system,and minimize inventory level.
Taiwan is the U.S.'s 10th largest trade partners,while the U.S.is Taiwan's third largest trade partner,with Taiwan-U.S.trade totaling US$62.1 billion in value in 2011.Taiwanese AEO enterprises rack up US$15.7 billion of export-import value with the U.S.a year,accounting for 25%of the trade value between Taiwan and the U.S.
According to the agreement,Taiwan and the U.S.will mutually acknowledge the inspection result for AEO enterprises and provide the preferential treatment of convenient customs clearance to the AEO enterprises of each other.
