Korea Customs Service: "AEO MRA Agreement Eases Export Barriers to Vietnam"

Exports from domestic companies to Vietnam are expected to become easier.

The Korea Customs Service announced on the 26th that it recently signed a Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) for Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) between Korea and Vietnam.

The AEO MRA is an agreement between customs authorities that allows a country-recognized "Authorized Economic Operator" to be recognized by the counterpart country, enabling benefits such as expedited customs clearance. Korea has signed AEO MRAs with 25 major countries including Vietnam, the United States, China, and Japan.

Previously, the Korea Customs Service began discussions to sign an AEO MRA with Vietnam in 2016, but the process was stalled for a long time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the signing of the AEO MRA was re-initiated following the Korea-Vietnam summit held in June last year. The agreement with Vietnam was reached after more than eight years of discussions.

As of last year, Korea's exports to Vietnam amounted to $53.5 billion. Of this, $30.3 billion (57%) corresponds to exports by AEO companies. The signing of the AEO MRA between Korea and Vietnam is expected to strengthen the export competitiveness of Korean companies.

In particular, including Vietnam, the Korea Customs Service has signed AEO MRAs with all of Korea's top 10 export trading countries. As of last year, the top 10 export trading countries include the United States, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Australia, Mexico, Vietnam, and Singapore.

Ko Kwang-hyo, Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service, said, "Vietnam is Korea's third-largest export trading partner and an important economic cooperation partner," adding, "We hope that the signing of the AEO MRA between the two countries will help expand exports of Korean companies and strengthen their global competitiveness."

Meanwhile, the Korea Customs Service plans to accelerate follow-up measures to implement the AEO MRA so that domestic AEO companies can promptly receive customs benefits (such as reduced import inspection rates, simplified import document review, and priority inspection of imported cargo) resulting from the Korea-Vietnam AEO MRA.

Additionally, based on the AEO supply chain established with major trading countries, the Korea Customs Service intends to strengthen customs cooperation and continuously expand the signing of AEO MRAs to create a favorable environment for domestic export companies to conduct trade.