The 5th WCO Global AEO Conference, held over three days from 25 to 27 May 2021, concluded successfully with over 3,917 registered participants from 158 World Customs Organization (WCO) Member administrations and stakeholders’ representatives around the world.  During the intensive discussions some 80 prominent experts shared their insights with the global Customs community. The event, hosted virtually by Dubai Customs and the Federal Customs Authority (FCA) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with support from the Korea Customs Service and various sponsors, achieved its objectives of re-establishing the importance of Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programmes and helping to shape the vision of AEO 2.0.

Under the theme “AEO 2.0: advancing towards new horizons for sustainable and secure trade”, the Conference kicked off with a high-level discussion that identified the strengths and weaknesses of the AEO concept and provided a glimpse into the future of AEO 2.0.The second session looked at the importance of Coordinated Border Management (CBM) and of other government agency (OGA) cooperation. It was followed by the third panel discussion on expanding AEO programmes to e-commerce operators which emphasized the need to include these entities, particularly in the current environment where consumers have become more dependent on e-commerce.

The director of Regional Office for Capacity Building for the World Customs Organization Europe Region, Mr. Eser ÇENGEL, moderated one of the sessions of the Conference 'Technical assistance and capacity building: the key to harmonized implementation of AEO programmes and MRAs'. In the session, role of technical assistance and capacity building in improving AEO programmes and enhancing intergovernmental support for AEO 2.0 as well as ways for programme effectiveness, among other matters for AEO and MRA development, were evaluated by the particiapnts. 

The Conference is available for watching online at the Conference web site.