2 July 2025 — This past week, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) marked a historic milestone in Brussels with the signing of three Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) for its Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) Programme. SARS is partnering with the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the United Kingdom’s His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC), and India’s Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). In addition, SARS undertook a Memorandum of Understanding with the Customs & Excise department of Hong Kong, China, regarding cooperation and mutual administrative assistance in Customs matters. SARS also concluded a cooperation agreement with the Xiamen District of the General Administration of China Customs.
SARS also engaged in follow-up conversations with the Canada Border Services Agency, (CBSA) concluding the exploration of mutual recognition for AEO. SARS engaged the Federal Customs Service (FCS) of Russia to explore cooperation and mutual administrative assistance in Customs matters and mutual recognition for AEO.
MRA negotiation is a multi-phase undertaking that demands operational trust and verified equivalence in programmes and procedure. It is not about blanket acceptance but ensuring that one country can confidently rely on another’s AEO validations and customs processes without compromising security or compliance integrity. Once signed, MRAs require ongoing cooperation, system interoperability, and joint reviews to maintain their effectiveness.
These events are not just diplomatic achievements; they are the culmination of more than five years of sustained technical engagement, policy alignment, and trust-building. The journey to mutual recognition is a rigorous one, involving detailed assessments of each country’s customs-compliance frameworks, validation procedures, and risk-management systems. The fact that SARS has successfully concluded MRAs with three of the world’s major trading nations is a powerful testament to the maturity, credibility, and international standing of South Africa’s AEO programme.
Through these MRA agreements, SARS and its MRA partners have committed to recognising each other’s AEOs, enabling accredited traders to benefit from faster customs clearance, reduced inspections, and lower administrative burdens. These facilitation benefits will apply to trade between South Africa and the US, UK, and India — countries that together account for approximately $37–40 billion in trade with South Africa (per SARS Trade Statistics data for 2024).
Notably, South Africa has become the first country on the African continent to achieve an MRA with the United States under its Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) program — a milestone that underscores both operational excellence and international trust. CTPAT is widely regarded as one of the most mature, influential, and operationally demanding supply-chain security partnership programmes globally. Its design has shaped many AEO programmes around the world. While the World Customs Organization’s SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade remains the overarching international blueprint for AEO programmes, CTPAT stands as the de facto global benchmark for operational rigour, security validation, and customs-to-customs trust. The United States maintains exceptionally high standards for MRAs, making this achievement both rare and hard-earned.
These new MRAs reflect SARS’s commitment to building a trusted global network of trade partners, one that balances facilitation with security, and innovation with integrity. As the global trade landscape evolves, South Africa is not just adapting; it is helping to shape the future of customs cooperation and supply-chain security on the African continent and beyond.
Since its launch in November 2020, the SARS AEO programme, which is fully aligned to SAFE, has enjoyed unprecedented uptake. These achievements reflect SARS’s commitment to trade facilitation, stakeholder satisfaction, and sustainable compliance. Importantly, AEOs now benefit from compelling reciprocal advantages through our MRA partners. It’s become a cornerstone of SARS’s strategy to promote voluntary compliance and optimise resource allocation across the customs landscape. As of 31 May 2025, SARS has accredited 831 AEOs in South Africa.
This significantly enhances the competitiveness of local exporters that choose to join SARS’s AEO Programme, benefiting from SARS’s network of MRAs now extending to China, Hong Kong, India, SACU (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia), Uganda, the UK, the US, and Zambia. With these MRAs in place, SARS now has mutual-recognition coverage for nearly 46% of South Africa’s export destinations by value, significantly enhancing the competitiveness of local exporters.
“This achievement is not only a win for SARS, but a win for South Africa’s economy and our position in the global trade ecosystem”, said SARS Commissioner and the WCO Council Chairperson Edward Kieswetter. “Securing MRAs with three major trading partners — including the United States, the United Kingdom, and India — demonstrates the growing trust in South Africa’s tax and customs systems and our commitment to enabling legitimate trade while safeguarding our borders”. The Commissioner noted that the MRAs “also reflect the principles at the heart of the WCO SAFE Framework: collaboration, risk management, and shared responsibility for secure and efficient global supply chains. As the first country in Africa to sign an MRA with the United States, we are proud to lead the way for the continent in deepening trade facilitation and security cooperation with the world’s largest economy”.
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