Conroute Air & Sea, the exclusive Swedish partner of the U-Freight Group (UFL), has been certified by the Swedish Customs authority as an Authorised Economic Operator (AEO-F) in the Combined Customs Simplifications/Security and Safety certificate categories, the highest of the three possible levels of AEO certification. Conroute Air & Sea’s accreditation follows that of U-Freight Holland in 2012, as well as U-Freight’s Spanish (Tracosa) and German (Alpha trans Luft- und Seefrachtspedition) partners in the same year.  Conroute Air & Sea will see tangible benefits of AEO accreditation including fewer physical and documentary examinations of cargo, priority use of non-intrusive inspection techniques when examination is required, priority processing by Customs whenever security is heightened and  ‘Preferred Trader’ eligibility.  Simon Wong, CEO of UFL says: “For UFL, supply chain security remains a number one priority, both for our own subsidiaries and for our exclusive partner network around the world. “Authorised economic operators in the EU, such as our Dutch subsidiary, and Swedish, Spanish and German partners, will receive benefits when trading internationally.” The AEO scheme is one of a series of measures being co-ordinated by the World Customs Organisation as part of a multi-layered approach to facilitating trade whilst making supply chains more secure and controlled.  In adopting the AEO regime, the EU is aligning with similar measures introduced by other countries, including the USA and Japan. The scheme provides legitimate businesses with a quality mark, which will demonstrate that their internal controls, staff training and procedures are effective and compliant. In the USA, U-Freight America has recently had its U.S. Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) status revalidated after an extensive revalidation visit by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) staff to U-Freight Limited in Hong Kong. U-Freight America’s revalidation of C-TPAT came ten years after it was first certified and seven years after it was validated in 2006, the same year UFL’s oceanfreight forwarding division, U-Ocean USA, was certified.