As part of the institutional and IT reforms initiated by the Government of the Republic of Benin for the modernization of the customs administration, a national programme of approved economic operators (OAS) for the benefit of the Beninese private sector was developed with the technical support of the Webb Fontaine Group, a partner designated by the Beninese State for the development and implementation of these reforms.

In order to better communicate around its national OAS program and to attract private sector membership, the Customs Administration organized on Tuesday, May 14, 2019, at the Madiba Hall of the Golden Tulip Diplomate Hotel, a major outreach and launch of the pilot phase of the programme under the high sponsorship of the Minister of Economy and Finance represented for the occasion by his Cabinet Director.

Two highlights marked the OAS outreach session. These are the speeches of the Authorities and the presentation of the national OAS program to the private sector.

Four speeches were delivered respectively by the Director General of Customs and Indirect Rights, the Deputy Director General of Webb Fontaine Group, the representative of the private sector and the representative of the Minister of Economy and Finance.

The welcome note from the Director General of Customs and Indirect Rights focused on recalling the context of the OAS program and the benefits of OAS certification. Following his speech, the Deputy Director General of Webb Fontaine recalled the role played by his structure in developing and implementing the programme. The Vice-President of the Employers' Office, who delivered the speech from the private sector, acknowledged that the programme was well-founded and hoped that training would be organized for the private sector to help it appropriate the programme. The representative of the Minister of Economy and Finance highlighted the efforts of the Government of the Republic of Benin in implementing beneficial reforms for the Customs Administration and officially launched the pilot phase of the national OAS programme, the content of which was exposed to economic operators.

The presentation of the OAS programme focused on the context and content of the OAS national programme.

With regard to the context of the OAS national programme, it should be noted that the OAS is an ambitious programme of the World Customs Organization (WCO) under pillar II of the SAFE Framework of Standards and aims to reconcile trade facilitation with the security of the international supply chain. Proposed by the WCO as a solution to the commercial inconvenience created by the measures taken by the American authorities in the aftermath of the attacks of 11 September 2011, it has become over the years a label that customs of the 21st century have appropriated. The Benin Customs, in its quest for modernity, has, in favour of the institutional and IT reforms underway within it, a national OAS programme.

As for the content of the national programme of the OAS, it is clear that three statutes are provided for in the programme: customs simplification, security and security status, and the full status of the two preceding ones. To be eligible for OAS status, several criteria must be met by the applicant companies. These criteria are a function of the type of status requested. When companies are able to meet its criteria, they could benefit from a package of benefits ranging from the speed of processing their cases to the benefits of Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs).

Moreover, the OAS programme will give international visibility to the Customs Administration, which will be recognized as a modern administration that promotes safe and secure trade facilitation and confirms the recognition of the international credibility of Beninese companies certified as OAS. That is why the private sector is urged to seize the leap.

DGDDI/COM.