The "Arrangement between the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Customs Administration of the Republic of Costa Rica on the Mutual Recognition of China's Customs Enterprise Credit Management System and Costa Rica's Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Program" (hereinafter referred to as the "Mutual Recognition Arrangement"), signed by the customs authorities of China and Costa Rica in January 2023, officially came into effect on July 1, 2023.

According to the provisions of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement, the customs authorities of China and Costa Rica will mutually recognize each other's "Authorized Economic Operators" (AEOs) and provide customs clearance facilitation for goods imported from each other's AEO enterprises. Specifically, Costa Rican Customs will recognize China's Advanced Certified Enterprises as mutually recognized AEOs, while Chinese Customs will recognize enterprises certified under Costa Rica's AEO program as mutually recognized AEOs.

When importing goods for customs clearance, the customs of China and Costa Rica will mutually grant the following customs clearance facilitation measures to each others AEO enterprises: apply a lower inspection rate; give priority to inspecting goods that need physical inspection; appoint customs liaison officers to be responsible for communicating and handling problems encountered by AEO enterprises in customs clearance; and give priority to customs clearance after the interruption and resumption of international trade.

When Chinese AEO enterprises export goods to Costa Rica, they need to inform the Costa Rican importer of the AEO code (AEOCN + 10 - digit enterprise code registered and filed with the Chinese customs, for example, AEOCN1234567890). The importer shall declare in accordance with the regulations of the Costa Rican customs. The Costa Rican customs will confirm the identity of the Chinese customs AEO enterprise and grant relevant facilitation measures.

When Chinese enterprises import goods from Costa Rican AEO enterprises, they need to fill in the Costa Rican AEO enterprise code in the Overseas Shipper Code column in the Overseas Shipper section of the bill and in the Shipper AEO Enterprise Code column of the water and freight manifest respectively. The filling method is: Country code (CR)+AEO enterprise code (12 - digit number), for example, CR123456789012. The Chinese customs will confirm the identity of the Costa Rican AEO enterprise and grant relevant facilitation measures.Import Customs DeclarationIn the "Single Foreign Consignor" section, the "Foreign Consignor Code" field and water,Air TransportationIn the cargo manifest, the "Shipper's AEO Enterprise Code" field should be filled with the Costa Rican AEO enterprise code. The format is: "Country code (CR) + AEO enterprise code (12 digits)", for example, "CR123456789012". Chinese Customs will verify the AEO status of Costa Rican enterprises and provide relevant facilitation measures.

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