By Harsh Ashar July 27, 2023

AEO Vs. Star House Export Status Certificate – All You Need To Know

AEO vs Star Export House Certificate

What is AEO?

AEO stands for Authorised Economic Operator Program is introduced by World Customs Organisation internationally and implemented by CBIC i.e., Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs in India to secure and facilitate international trade. There are three tiers of AEO certification for importers and exporters namely AEO T1, AEO T2, and AEO T3 and single-tier AEO LO for logistics operators.

What is Star Export House Certification?

Star Export House Certification program as the name suggests is only for exporters and is introduced by Ministry of Commerce and administered by the DGFT to provide recognition for exporters as business leaders who have excelled in international trade and have successfully contributed to country’s foreign trade. The status house certificate holders enjoy several benefits as a part of this program.

BENEFITS

AEO

STAR EXPORT HOUSE CERTIFICATE

Direct Port Delivery (DPD)

This is one of the most important benefits of AEO Certificate that is not available to Star Export House Certificate holders. With Direct Port Delivery AEO Certificate holders save up on storage costs, ground rent costs, CFS handling costs, terminal to CFS transport costs, detention fee which is payable to the carrier. All-in-all an AEO Certificate holder will save around INR 25,000 per container as per the JNPT Port cost estimates. Not only this, with DPD the delivery time of the import cargo is reduced to 2 days than the normal delivery time of 7-8 days.

Bank Guarantee Waiver

Both AEO and Status house certificate holders get the benefit of Bank Guarantee Waiver. For AEO T1- there is 50% Bank Guarantee Waiver, for AEO T2 the Bank Guarantee waiver is 75% and for AEO T3 there is a 100% Bank Guarantee Waiver. However, Star export house certificate holders 100% exempted from the furnishing of Bank Guarantee (BG) for all schemes under the latest foreign trade policy

Direct Port Entry

Again, this benefit is only for exporters having an AEO Certificate and not available to Star Export House Status Holders. Direct Port Entry allows exporters to directly move their containers from factory to container terminal without intermediate handling at any CFS. This saves time and costs of exporters.

Establishment of export warehouses

This benefit is available only to status house certificate holders and not available to AEO Certificate holders. This facility allows status holders to establish export warehouses as per the department of revenue guidelines.

24-hour clearance facility with no merchant overtime fees

This facility is available to AEO Certificate holders and not status holders. As shown in Chart I below, merchant overtime fees are paid by an importer or an exporter for services rendered by the Customs officer beyond regular working hours or on holidays. The chart shows the latest merchant overtime fees. An AEO Certificate holder is not required to pay this.

Export of free of cost samples

This facility is available to status house certificate holders and not AEO certificate holders. Status holders can export freely exportable items (except Gems and Jewellery) on free of cost basis for export promotion subject to conditions.

Deferred duty Payment: This facility is available to AEO Certificate holders and not status house holders. Deferred duty payment allows clearance of cargo first and payment of import duties later. Chart II below shows the payment cycle very clearly.

Self-Generation of Certificate of Origin

This facility is available to status house certificate holder and unavailable to AEO Certificate holders. Manufacturer exporters who are status holders can self-certify that their manufactured goods are originating from India with a view to qualify for preferential treatment under various trade agreements.

Norms Fixation on Self Declaration and Self Ratification

This facility is available to both AEO and Status House Certificate holders. This facility enables exporters to fix ad-hoc norms under Advance Authorisation Scheme on self-ratification or self-declaration basis without approaching the norms committee situated at New Delhi.

Email Notification

This facility is available to AEO Certificate holder and not status house certificate holder. The AEO certificate holder will get an E-mail for the departure and arrival of the import-export consignment.

Faster Processing of refunds/incentives

This facility is available for AEO Certificate holders and not export house status holders. This facility includes benefits including:

Faster disbursal of duty drawback within 72 hours of submitting EGM i.e., export general manifest
Faster disbursal of IGST refunds and other rebates within 45 days of submission of relevant documents
Fast tracked indirect tax investigation within 6-9 months
Dispute resolution related to AEO Certificate within 6 months
On-site post clearance audit will be conducted only once in three years.

High Level of trade facilitation

This facility is available for AEO Certificate holders and not for star export house status holders. This facility comes with benefits like:

Allotment of ID Cards to the employees of AEO Certificate holders allowing free access to Customs, ICD and CFS premises,
Assignment of a dedicated relationship manager
Allotment of a separate space in custodian premises.

Priority Customs Clearance and Preferential Treatment

Both AEO and Star Export House Certificate holders get this benefit. The goods are inspected, scanned and cleared on priority and consignment is handled on preferential basis by the concerned agencies.

Chart I: Merchant Overtime Fees Chart

Class of Officers	Fee per hour or part thereof on working days (In INR)		Fee per hour or part thereof on holidays (In INR)
	6 AM to 8 PM	8 PM to 6 AM	6 AM to 8 PM	8 PM to 6 AM
1) Appraisers, Superintendents (Customs Preventive), and Superintendent (Central Excise).	85	125	140	180
2) Air Customs Officers, Examiners, Preventive Officers, and Inspectors of Central Excise.	75	100	105	145
3) Class IV Staff	35	45	55	60

Chart II: Deferred Duty Payment Chart

Date of Bill of Entry Filed	Due Date of Import Duty Payment
B/E from 1-15^th day of any month	17th of the month
B/E from 16th – last day of the month (Except March)	2^nd day of the following month
B/E from 16-29 March	31^st March
B/E from 30-31 March	2nd April

Conclusion:

To summarize this, we see that while AEO and Status House certificates share several advantages, many of these benefits are unique to each certification. AEO holders enjoy benefits that are not available to Status House certificate holders, and vice versa. Additionally, Status House certificate benefits exclusively apply to exporters, while AEO benefits extend to importers as well. Therefore, it is highly recommended to pursue both certifications simultaneously in order to maximize advantages and gain a competitive edge in the global market.