AEO-MRA Signing Ceremony between the Customs Department
AEO-MRA Signing Ceremony between the Customs Department of the Kingdom of Thailand and the New Zealand Customs Service
On 29 May 2023, Mr. Patchara Anuntasilpa, Director-General of the Thai Customs Department and Ms. Christine Stevenson, Comptroller and Chief Executive of the New Zealand Customs Service have officially signed the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on Authorized EconomicOperators (AEO) between the Customs Department of the Kingdom of Thailand and the New Zealand Customs Service at the 24th World Customs Organization regional heads meeting held in Perth, Australia. Upon the execution of this MRA, Thai AEOs would be able to enjoy the benefits of trade facilitation on customs procedures when exporting to New Zealand. This MRA will become the 6th fully executed MRA that Thailand has entered into, following the MRAs with other customs administrations; Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, and Japan.
Thailand and New Zealand has been having a well-established trading relationship, with two-way trade worth $4.4 billion for the year ended in June 2022. Accordingly, to enhance the cooperation between the customs administrations to strengthen the security and the efficiency of the supply chain, as well as the international trade, the Thai Customs Department and the New Zealand Customs started the negotiation on this MRA in May 2021, and both continued to conduct Joint-site Validation in 2022.
Thai Customs Department has been implementing the AEO program under the SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade, governed by World Customs Organization, and will continue working toward establishing MRAs with other customs authorities to facilitate international trade for Thai AEOs.
