News
The Korea Customs Service (KCS) announced on June 3 that the efficiency of exports to and imports from China improved notably during the first quarter (January-March) of this year. More specifically, the mutual recognition agreement (MRA) on authorized economic operators (AEOs) that it had reached with China reduced the average amount of time consumed in customs clearance services and drove down the percentage of which AEO shipments are inspected.
Since the MRA was signed in April 2014, the customs authorities of South Korea and China have met every year for working-level meetings and exchanged statistical information.
In the first quarter, the average amount of time spent at customs houses in China for inspecting AEO products from South Korea was just 13 hours, a slightly over one-third of the duration of time used for general cargo, which was an average of 38 hours. Meanwhile, only 1.97% of the AEO cargo from South Korea was checked in China, less than half the percentage of which general shipments were checked, which was 4.19%. It was learned the AEO agreement had contributed remarkably to shrinking logistics costs for South Korea and enhancing its export competitiveness.
South Korea has reached MRAs on AEOs with a total of 14 major trade partners, including China, Japan and the U.S.
