The General Administration of Customs ("GAC") has recently issued the Announcement [2018] No.116, deciding to officially implement the Arrangement of the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Israel Tax Authority under the Ministry of Finance of the State of Israel on the Mutual Recognition of the Enterprise Credit Management System of the Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) System of the Israel Customs, beginning from October 1, 2018.
The announcement states that, the customs offices of China and Israel will mutually recognize each other's "AEOs" and facilitate the customs clearance of goods imported from each other's AEOs. Specifically, the customs of Israel will recognize the senior authorized enterprises accredited by the customs of China as Chinese AEOs, while the customs of China will recognize AEOs acknowledged by Israel customs as Israel's AEOs. Moreover, the announcement expressly states that, the customs offices of both sides will take certain measures to provide each other's AEOs with convenience in respect of the customs clearance, when clearing customs for imports or exports. Such measures include reducing the inspection rate of imports, clearing customs first for imports, designating customs officers to deal with affairs relating to customs clearance of goods for members under each other's scheme; and helping handle formalities first after the resumption of trade interruption.