Mutual recognition of the Certified Economic Operator –CEO– (“Opérateur Economique Agréé –OEA–“) status and access for French companies to global markets

This status defined in 2008 by the European Union, enables certified companies to reduce entry costs to global markets, through quicker or lightened procedures. With the mutual bilateral agreements acknowledging the status which have been signed these past few years (Switzerland, Norway, Japan, the United States and China) the Certified Economic Operator (CEOs) seem to have more use. In this project we will measure the effects of these bilateral agreements on French certified companies, namely in terms of impact on trade and the trade-related cost reduction, by controlling the potential endogeneity of the certification, and by identifying the characteristics of the companies which profit most of this status. These results could then be used to evaluate the opportunity of such bilateral agreements for reaching out for new partnerships. For now only few companies have asked to be certified (1358 French companies up to the 6th July 2016) and the dates of the delivery of the certification are scattered from 2008 to today, making individual trade data necessary to any analysis. Furthermore, FARE data will help us to link up to trade models for heterogeneous firms, while multiplying the possibilities to address endogeneity issues (company selection). The SIRUS database will also enable the reconstituting of groups by aggregating company statistics, to identify cases where one subsidiary (for example specialized in transport) would be certified, yet the certification would benefit to the rest of the group.