authorised economic operator (aeo)
ensure continued status compliance with a regular aeo health check
Achieving AEO status is a significant milestone, marking the successful completion of a rigorous internal process and a thorough HMRC audit. However, certification is just the beginning—maintaining your AEO status requires ongoing diligence.
It can be tempting to ease off once certification is secured, knowing that your next scheduled HMRC audit will be three years away. But without regular maintenance, businesses risk falling out of compliance, potentially jeopardising their AEO status when reassessment comes around.
At VARTAN, we’ve seen firsthand how periodic compliance reviews help businesses stay on track. Our tailored AEO Maintenance Services ensure you continue to meet HMRC’s evolving requirements, keeping your audit trails up to date and eliminating compliance blind spots.
Let us help you safeguard your AEO accreditation with a proactive, structured approach—because maintaining compliance is just as important as achieving it.
Example of our standard maintenance options for aeo-c and aeo-s
AEO-C
Customs compliance health check
- Review of customs activities and documented procedures
- Ensuring that documented procedures are being compiled with, looking for supportive evidence
- Review of IT systems & security, plus prompting of carrying out new IT intrusion testing.
- Customs entry auditing
- Review of data submitted to HMRC to ensure all significant updates have been communicated to AEO Central Site
- Review and testing of Customs competency levels within your organisation
- Advise on any additional AEO requirements that need to be implemented as experienced in recent audits
AEO-S
safety and security health check
- Thorough review of physical security to ensure compliance
- Full review and update of risk and threat assessment
- Review and update of your business continuity plan (BCP)
- Review and update of company security plan
- Review security measures submitted to HMRC to ensure all significant updates have been communicated to AEO Central Site
- Review security related non-conformance reports. Provide mitigation advice if trends are visible
- Review HR processes, including induction, safety & security training & references / DBS checks
AEO Health Check Services
All of our Health Check days are completed with you on-site
We can change the focus of the visits depending on your needs or compliance concerns, to ensure you get the maximum benefit.
Additional services include:
- A full review of customs classifications and procedures
- External audits of suppliers against AEO-C or AEO-S criteria
- Documenting new procedures or re-writing existing procedures
- Acquiring additional standards on the back of the established AEO audit trails such as ISO 9001: 2015 Quality management and ISO 28001: 2007 Security management systems for the supply chain
- Reassessment preparedness review
- Customs Comprehensive Guarantee (CCG) application guidance
how vartan can help you
aeo criteria
Regular external audits and health checks will ensure ongoing compliance with AEO criteria, along with refresher training for staff and regular procedure reviews to keep up with your operations as they change over time.
Complimentary Customs Entry Audits
Quality assurance
- Even the most well-organised businesses can develop ‘blind spots’ in their customs processes. Without expert oversight, in-house training methods may unintentionally overlook critical compliance details—leading to costly errors, miscalculations, and unnecessary tax payments that add up over time.
- That’s where we come in. Our Complimentary Customs Entry Audit is a risk-free way to ensure your customs declarations are accurate and compliant. Even if you’re confident in your processes, having an expert review can provide peace of mind.
How It Works:
Our experienced customs consultants will audit a sample of your entries and deliver a traffic-light report outlining:
- What you’re doing correctly
- Areas that need further attention
- Entries that are incorrect and could be costing you money.
It’s a smart business move with nothing to lose—except the risk of costly mistakes. Let’s make sure your customs processes are working for you, not against you.
HMRC reassessment
AUDIt day support
We can attend prior to and/or during HMRC reassessments to provide support and expertise and will be on hand to deal with any post-audit matters.
Our AEO Health Check services are designed to ensure that your procedures and audit trails are managed at the required level, protecting your Authorised Economic Operator status.