On April 14, 2026, the Commission published a guidance document prepared by DG TAXUD on “AEO-Customs Cooperation to Detect, Report and React to Suspicious Activities”. The goal of the Guidance is to strengthen collaboration and information exchange between customs authorities and economic operators in order to combat illicit trade, drug trafficking and organised crime more effectively.
The document is of a non-binding nature and builds further with already existing partnerships of Customs with Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs). Nevertheless, the document aims at improving reporting measures by all businesses, not only the AEO-certified ones.
Some of the key recommendations include, for example, the establishment of a secure whistleblowing mechanism to encourage anonymous reporting as well as streamlined reporting through dedicated 24/7 contact points for urgent alerts.
The document can be accessed here.
