LED Logistics

Logistic Management students at KATHO’s HANTAL department have written a thesis on the implementation of the AEO certificate with SMEs. This thesis came about with the assistance of Mr Vandevondele of the IWECC, the Logistics LED of KATHO's HANTAL department under the guidance of Lieve Lombaert, and a number of companies. By implementing AEO in SMEs, microenterprises can now also participate in international trade.

The Belgian customs want to make international goods traffic safer. Spurred by Noël Colpin, Customs and Excise Administrator, they want to proceed to the creation of ‘secure trade lanes’ or ‘green lanes’ as soon as possible. To be able to participate in these ‘secure trade lanes’, companies have to demonstrate that they indeed engage in international trade in a safe manner. They can do this by being in the possession of an AEO (Authorised Economic Operator) certificate. Customs provide a number of special facilities as to physical customs inspection and suretyship to companies that are in the possession of the certificate. In addition, such companies are considered reliable for customs transactions throughout the European Union. The AEO certificate can be obtained if the company can prove that it has a good record of service with customs after an audit. If all supply chain partners have the AEO certificate, they constitute a ‘secure trade lane’ or 'green lane’ and customs inspections are limited to an absolute minimum.

The application procedure for the AEO certificate is not so simple. Large companies call upon consultancy agencies for that purpose. However, SMEs and/or microenterprises do not have the money or the time to struggle through the entire process, especially in these times of crisis. Hence the idea to have Logistic Management students J. Vandelanotte, S. Deceuninck en N. Desimpelare write out this complicated procedure in a thesis and to have this procedure thoroughly tested in companies through the Logistics LED of KATHO’s Commercial Sciences and Business Administration (HANTAL) department.  The thesis was entitled: ‘Authorized Economic Operator, the way to safe and reliable trade’.

The intention of this thesis is to assist the SME and/or microenterprise in obtaining the AEO certificate. Partially thanks to the assistance of Dr Vandevondele, IWECC of the Customs Office of Menen, and under the supervision of lecturer Veerle Lahousse, the students were able to assist 8 companies. Two companies, in particular Transport Vanneste - Moen and Algemene vervoeronderneming Lokere NV, Zeebrugge,  have already received the certificate. So far, only 42 companies have obtained this certificate in Belgium. Compared to the surrounding countries, this is rather poor. There are already 196 certified companies in the Netherlands, 152 in France and 432 in Germany.

In special recognition of their efforts, these graduates won the prestigious Bachelor Graduation Prize in the Commercial Sciences and Business Administration category with their thesis. This graduation prize is organised by the Bachelor non-profit association. This graduation prize is preceded by a rigid selection process, and one of the criteria is usability in companies. Companies that are interested in achieving an AEO certificate can still call upon KATHO by contacting the HANTAL department at lieve.lombaert@katho.be.