June 26 - The Van der Vlist Transport Group is now an approved Authorised Economic Operator (AEO), adding to its portfolio of quality management systems, including ISO 9001:2008, 140001, AQAP 2120, OHSAS 18001 and ISPS.
The company says that the AEO accreditation gives businesses worldwide the peace of mind that the Van der Vlist Group follows globally recognised customs procedures for the international flow of goods to and from the EU.
It adds that one of the major benefits of this accreditation is that the customs process can be simplified, a key factor for businesses moving large volumes of goods. This "speeding up" of the customs process is possible as AEO-certified companies have already shown that they are customs compliant, follow high standards of record-keeping, are financially solvent and, where relevant, follow recognised security and safety standards.
Dirk and Nico Van der Vlist, joint md's received the award; Dirk stated that: "The Van der Vlist Group has been working towards this approval since 2007 when some of our larger clients started to look at these customs procedures and accreditations. We set up a project group within the business, worked with the Dutch Customs Authorities and got to where we needed to be."
The AEO status held by Van der Vlist is different from others. "We wanted to include safety in the scope of the approval process. We are dealing with large and heavy items in dangerous surroundings on a day to day basis; it made sense to include this to allow our clients to have further confidence in our capabilities," the joint mds added.
