the terms and conditions for benefiting from the status of authorized economic operator

the conditions and procedures for benefiting from the status of authorized economic operator as well as the facilitation measures granted to it at customs clearance.

I/ Conditions for granting approval and the facilitations granted to an authorized economic operator

    - The status of authorized economic operator is granted to any economic operator:

             - established in Algeria, natural or legal person,

             - carrying out import or export activities and intervening in the fields of production of goods or services;

- without previous record, during the last three (3) years past, against him, against his legal representatives, his executives or his main associates, with the administrations, customs, tax, trade, labor and social security and with the other institutions concerned with the supervision of foreign trade;

—- who is not in bankruptcy, liquidation, cessation of activity, legal settlement or composition;

- - not the subject of a procedure for declaring bankruptcy, liquidation, cessation of activity, legal settlement or composition;

—- demonstrating financial solvency in the last three (3) years.

However, importers for resale in the state can claim the benefit of the status of approved economic operator, on the basis of the criteria set by this decree and according to the terms and conditions set by a joint decree of the Minister of Finance and of the minister in charge of trade.

Authorized economic operators benefit from customs clearance facilities, in particular:

—- ease of access to simplified customs procedures;

—- reduction in the number of physical and documentary checks;

- - priority treatment of goods in the event of an inspection;

—- the orientation of the goods, as the case may be, to the customs clearance circuit without immediate control or to that of the documentary control, provided for in the customs code;

—- remote customs clearance and site visit.

II/  Procedure for obtaining approval and auditing the company

  To benefit from the status of authorized economic operator, the candidate must:

-a- - formulate a request near the customs office of the spring of which depends its principal activity:

- b- - subscribe to and comply with the clauses of the specifications and respond precisely to the questionnaire, the standard models of which are attached in Appendices I and II respectively to this Decree.

-c -— produce documents or copies of documents

below, as applicable:

- - the status for legal persons;

- - extract from the commercial register;

- - the tax registration card;

- - the specifications and the questionnaire;

     —- any document necessary for the audit by customs officials.

- The above-mentioned customs office gives the applicant a signed acknowledgment of receipt, bearing a serial number and a filing date.

     - When the approval request file is deemed admissible on the form, the competent customs services carry out an audit audit for a maximum period of six (6) months.

If the request is inadmissible in form, a reasoned rejection is notified to the requester within one (1) month from the date of filing. Otherwise, the request is considered admissible in form.

The audit mainly concerns the verification of the following elements:

—- the relevance of the information and documents provided;

—- the antecedents provided for in article 2 of this decree.

      - If the results of the audit are conclusive, the status of approved economic operator is granted to the applicant, by decision of the Director General of Customs, according to the model attached in Annex III to this Decree.

III/  Validity of approval, suspension and withdrawal

- The period of validity of the approval is three (3) years.

- At the request of the approved operator, the renewal of approval for the same period is subject to compliance with the requirements of the status of authorized economic operator provided for in this Decree.

- The request must be submitted six (6) months before the expiry of the validity period of the approval.

       The competent customs services during this period verify the conditions of eligibility for the status of authorized economic operator, by means of a follow-up audit.

- The authorization is suspended by decision of the Director General of Customs, for a period not exceeding six (6) months,

in the following cases:

- non-compliance by the operator, during the approval period, with the conditions mentioned in paragraphs 2, 4 and 5 of article 2 of this decree;

- failure by the operators to comply with the obligations provided for in the articles of the specifications annexed to this decree;

- legal proceedings of the operator for crimes related to his professional activity;

- at the express request made by the operator aerator.

However, the suspension may be extended for the same period if the legal proceedings remain pending.

-The suspension may relate to all or part of the facilitation granted to the operator and may be accompanied by a request to take appropriate measures.

- The suspension has no effect on customs procedures initiated before the date of its pronouncement and has no automatic effect on authorizations granted without reference to authorization.

Approval is restored to the beneficiary:

- if the grounds for its suspension are lifted;

—- at the request of the operator, if the suspension occurred at his request.

The approval is withdrawn by decision of the Director General of Customs when the authorized economic operator:

- has not complied with the conditions mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 3 of article 2 of this decree during the approval period;

  - has not honored its commitments arising from the articles of the specifications annexed to this decree;

- did not lift or only partially lifted, during the period of suspension of approval, the reasons which led to its pronouncement;

—- has been the subject of a judicial conviction having acquired the force of res judicata for crimes related to his professional activity;

 - request it.

ANNEX I

STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS OF APPROVED ECONOMIC OPERATORS

- The purpose of these specifications is to set out the commitments and obligations that economic operators must observe in order to benefit from the facilities for customs clearance of their goods.

Art. 2. - The economic operator undertakes to comply with the obligations and commitments contained in these specifications.

Art. 3. - The economic operator is required to designate a duly authorized representative to monitor the status of the authorized economic operator.

Art. 4. - The economic operator commits to the sincerity, accuracy and authenticity of the information and documents communicated to the customs services accompanying the request for the benefit of the status of authorized economic operator.

Art. 5. - The accounts of the economic operator must be kept on a real basis in accordance with the principles laid down by the legislation applicable in the matter.

Failing to be held by a department specific to the company, the accounting is entrusted to an approved accounting firm.

Art. 6. - The economic operator must have satisfactory conditions for document archiving and data protection.

Art. 7. - The accounting documents as well as all the commercial and professional documentation must be made available to the customs agents, at the first requisition, for any control.

Art. 8. - The economic operator, failing to declare the goods in customs for his own account, must entrust this task to one or more approved customs agents and having an experience of at least five (5) years exercise.

Art. 9. - The economic operator undertakes not to use the facilities obtained for the import or export of prohibited or counterfeit goods. During its customs clearance operations, the authorized economic operator must ensure compliance with the provisions applicable under specific regulations and the presentation of documents required in this area.

Art. 10. - The economic operator undertakes to use the facilities obtained exclusively for its own import or export operations and not to

use for the foreign trade operations of others.

Art. 11. - The economic operator undertakes to provide all the necessary assistance to the customs services responsible for carrying out checks in its offices and premises, by providing them with all the required documents and possibly samples of goods claimed when these can be presented.

All requests from the customs authorities that may relate to further information or any other document must be met without delay.

Art. 12. - Within the framework of the exercise of its activities, the economic operator must have appropriate storage and distribution infrastructures, arranged according to the nature, the volume and the necessities of storage and protection of the goods , object of its activities, so that they can be easily checked by the customs services.

Art. 13. - Any change in the situation of the authorized economic operator having an impact on the conditions under which he obtained this approval must be reported immediately to the customs services responsible for monitoring his file.

Done at ................................ on ............... ............................

Mention: read and approved

Stamp and signature of the representative applicant's legal

ANNEX II

SURVEY

(Executive decree corresponding to the terms and conditions for the benefit of the status of authorized economic operator in customs).

1 - Name or business name, ........................................... .

2 - Address of the head office, ..........................................

3 - Date and place of incorporation of the company ....................................... ...........

4 - Number and date of the extract from the commercial register as well as the branch that issued it ............................ .........................................

5 - Address (es) of (s) (other) place (s) of activity ......................... .................................................. ..........

6 - Tax identification number and inspection of connecting taxes ..................................... ...................

7 - Customs clearance offices used ..........................

8 - Country of import or export .........................

9 - Last name, first name, telephone and fax number, e-mail address, of the representative designated as contact for monitoring status with customs ................... ..............................................

10 - Sectors of activity ............................................ ......

11 - Customs procedures used ....................................

12 - Imported or exported products ................................

13 - Payment methods used for the payment of imports or exports ………………………………… ............................. ............

14 - Domiciliary banks ........................................

15 - Does the company have its own bookkeeping service? Indicate the accounting system .......................................... ..............................

16 - If the company subcontracts its accounting, indicate the accounting firm selected, its address, telephone and fax number as well as the number of its years of experience …………………… ..... ..................................................

17 - The turnover of each army of exercise of activity for the last three years ............................

18 - The number of detailed declarations subscribed during each of the last three financial years of activity .............................. .................................................

19 - Does the company exercise customs clearance through its own services? .................................................. ..............

20 - If the company uses one or more customs agents, indicate their names or company names, approval number, addresses, telephone and fax numbers .............. .................................................. ............................

21 - Has the company already been the subject of a dispute noted by the customs? If yes, indicate the numbers of these files, the service that established them and the facts repressed ............................... .......................................

22 - Has the company been the subject of litigation noted by the tax services, the Ministry of Commerce or, the Bank of Algeria or? If yes, indicate the references of these files, the services that identified them and the facts repressed ................................ .................

     Last name, first name and signature of a legal representative of the applicant with affixing of the company stamp .............................. ...........................................

 Signature Date ............................................... ....

————————

ANNEX III

PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF CUSTOMS

DECISION TO GRANK THE CUSTOMS ECONOMIC OPERATOR STATUS

The Director General of Customs,

    Considering the law n ° 79-07 of July 21, 1979, modified and supplemented, carrying the customs code, in particular its article 89 ter;

    Having regard to Presidential Decree No. 2000-447 of 27 Ramadhan 1421 corresponding to December 23, 2000, ratifying, with reservation, the protocol to amend the international convention for the simplification and harmonization of customs procedures (Kyoto, May 18, 1973) , done in Brussels on June 26, 1999;

In view of Executive Decree No. 12-93 of 8 Rabie Ethani 1433 corresponding to March 1, 2012 setting the terms and conditions for the benefit of the status of authorized economic operator in customs;

Given the request made by the company .......................

After subscription by the applicant to the specifications provided for by Executive Decree No. 12-93 of 8 Rabie Ethani 1433 corresponding to March 1, 2012 setting the terms and conditions for the benefit of the status of authorized economic operator in customs;

Decides:

Article 1. - The company designated below has the status of authorized economic operator:

-— "Name or business name"

-— "Headquarters address"

-— "Number and date of the commercial register"

-— "Tax identification number".

Art. 2. - The customs services are responsible, each as far as it is concerned, for implementing customs facilitation linked to the status of authorized economic operator.

Art. 3. - This decision will be published in the official Algerian customs bulletin.

The Director General of Customs.