ATA Carnet


The ATA Carnet, often referred to as the "Passport for goods", is an international customs document that permits the tax-free and duty-free temporary export and import of nonperishable goods for up to one year. It consists of unified customs declaration forms which are prepared ready to use at every border crossing point. It is a globally accepted guarantee for customs duties and taxes which can replace the security deposit required by each customs authority. It can be used in multiple countries in multiple trips up to its one-year validity. The acronym ATA is a combination of French and English terms "Admission Temporaire/Temporary Admission". The ATA carnet is now the document most widely used by the business community for international operations involving temporary admission of goods.
The ATA Carnet is jointly administered by the World Customs Organization and the International Chamber of Commerce through its World Chambers Federation.

History

Background

Early suggestions for an international temporary admission scheme were made during the 1900 and 1913 Congresses on Customs regulations, which were examined by Customs experts convened in 1923 under the auspices of the League of Nations but no positive result was achieved. In 1932, the League of Nations drafted a convention to promote uniform duty-free admission for samples, however, due to WWII, it was never implemented. In 1952, based on the recommendations already put forward in the ICCs' report on "Invisible Barriers to Trade and Travel" from 1949, the contracting parties to GATT adopted an International Convention to Facilitate the Importation of Commercial Samples and Advertising Material proposed and drafted by the International Chamber of Commerce. This convention, which came into effect in November 1955, was based on the draft originally developed by the League of Nations in 1935.
During the meetings of the Sixth Session Working Party, which prepared the text of the convention, and following a proposal by the French delegation, some consideration was given to the possibility of introducing a system of triptyques or carnets for samples of value carried by commercial travellers. It was suggested that such a system would alleviate the financial burdens and administrative formalities imposed upon firms sending representatives abroad. The Working Party was informed that a scheme for duty-free admission of commercial travellers' samples under cover of a customs triptyque had been worked out for operation on a bilateral basis between Austria and Switzerland though it had not yet been put into force. On 1 March 1954, the Austrian Government informed the Executive Secretary of GATT that on 1 February 1954 the scheme for the duty-free admission of commercial travellers' samples was put into effect by the Customs Administrations of Austria and Switzerland. In accordance with this agreement commercial travellers and agents were permitted to import commercial samples from Switzerland into Austria, and conversely, temporarily duty-free under cover of a commercial sample triptyque without the deposit of import duties. The guarantees for the import duties are given by an Austrian insurance company for imports into Austria, and by a Swiss company for the imports into Switzerland. The application of this system was limited to collections of samples on which the customs duties would not exceed 60,000 Austrian schillings or 10,000 Swiss Francs. The period allowed for re-exportation was one year.
Thus, based on this convention, this triptyque scheme and allegedly following Charles Aubert's vision and initiative, the Customs Co-operation Council with the cooperation of the International League of Commercial Travellers and Agents and of the ICC's International Information Bureau of Chambers of Commerce prepared the Customs Convention Regarding the E.C.S. Carnets for Commercial Samples which entered into force on 3 October 1957. The new Convention introduced the E.C.S. Carnet, a substitution on an optional basis for the usual national temporary importation papers which replaced any deposit or guarantee for suspended import duties and charges if such a guarantee was required by the customs authorities in a particular case. The initials E.C.S. stand for the combined English and French words: Echantillons Commerciaux - Commercial Samples. The first countries to sign this convention were West Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey and the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs acted as the depositary of the convention. The Customs Co-operation Council informed the Executive Secretary of GATT that the "satisfactory results obtained by the use of E.C.S. carnets for the temporary importation of commercial samples has induced the international trading community to propose that the facilities offered by the ECS Carnet Convention should be extended over the widest possible field." This idea was supported by the International Chamber of Commerce.

The ATA Convention

A preliminary enquiry on the usefulness of a customs document for temporary duty-free admission, carried out by the Customs Cooperation Council with the assistance of GATT, UNESCO and ICC showed general support for the preparation of a document on the lines of the ECS carnet, which could be used to facilitate, in particular, the temporary admission of professional equipment and of goods for display or use at exhibitions, fairs, etc. Since two Conventions concerning the temporary admission of these items were in the course of preparation, it was recognised that it would be highly desirable that the Convention creating the new document should be ready for adoption by the council, at the same time as these Conventions; or as soon as possible thereafter. Hence, due to the ECS Carnet success, in 1961 the Customs Cooperation Council adopted the Customs Convention on the ATA Carnet for the Temporary Admission of Goods which then entered into force on 30 July 1963. ATA Carnets are seen as upgraded version of ECS Carnets, which are no longer limited to commercial samples. More specific conventions for each type of applicable good were subsequently worked out and agreed on by the CCC. At its 47th / 48th Sessions, the Council recommended Contracting Parties to the Customs Convention Regarding the E.C.S. Carnets for Commercial Samples to denounce it as it duplicates the ATA Convention. To date, 21 countries have deposited their instruments of denunciation of the ECS Convention which, as a result, now has only one Contracting Party.
"The States signatory to this Convention, convinced that the adoption of common procedures for the temporary duty-free importation of goods would afford considerable advantages to international commercial and cultural activities and would secure a higher degree of harmony and uniformity in the customs system of the Contracting Parties." –

The Istanbul Convention

Between 1950 and 1970, there was a proliferation in the number of international Conventions, Recommendations, Agreements and other instruments on temporary admission, creating confusion for the international business community and complicating the work of Customs. In the early 1990s the WCO decided to take draft a worldwide Convention on temporary admission to combine, into a single international instrument, 13 existing temporary admission agreements, namely:
  1. Customs Convention on the ATA carnet for the temporary admission of goods, Brussels, 6 December 1961
  2. Customs Convention concerning facilities for the importation of goods for display or use at exhibitions, fairs, meetings or similar events, Brussels, 8 June 1961
  3. Customs Convention on the temporary importation of professional equipment, Brussels, 8 June 1961
  4. European Convention on Customs treatment of pallets used in international transport, Geneva, 9 December 1960
  5. Customs Convention on the temporary importation of packings, Brussels, 6 October 1960
  6. Articles 2 to 11 and Annexes 1 to 3 to the Customs Convention on Containers, Geneva, 2 December 1972
  7. Articles 3, 5 and 6 of the International Convention to facilitate the importation of commercial samples and advertising material, Geneva, 7 November 1952
  8. Customs Convention on welfare material for seafarers, Brussels, 1 December 1964
  9. Customs Convention on the temporary importation of scientific equipment, Brussels, 11 June 1968
  10. Customs Convention on the temporary importation of pedagogic material, Brussels, 8 June 1970
  11. Articles 2 and 5 of the Convention concerning Customs facilities for touring, New York, 4 June 1954
  12. Additional Protocol to the Convention concerning Customs facilities for touring, relating to the importation of tourist publicity documents and material, New York, 4 June 1954
  13. Customs Convention on the temporary importation of private road vehicles, New York, 4 June 1954
  14. Customs Convention on the temporary importation of commercial road vehicles, Geneva, 18 May 1956
  15. Customs Convention on the temporary importation for private use of aircraft and pleasure boats, Geneva, 18 May 1956
Hence, in order to simplify and harmonize temporary admission formalities provided in various Conventions, the Convention on Temporary Admission, i.e. Istanbul Convention, was adopted at WCO on 26 June 1990 and then entered into force on 27 November 1993. Its objectives and principles are:
  • To devise a single instrument for the simplification and harmonization of temporary admission formalities, replacing all the existing Conventions or Recommendations dealing solely or principally with temporary admission. The subjects covered by the former Conventions are now covered by the Annexes to the Istanbul Convention.
  • Each Annex authorizes the temporary admission of goods imported for a specific purpose, e.g. Annex B.1. covers goods for display or use at fairs or exhibitions. This avoids the need for the drawing up of any future instruments on temporary admission by creating a framework in which new categories of goods needing temporary admission facilities can be incorporated.
  • Goods imported duty-free cannot remain indefinitely in the country of temporary importation. The period fixed for re-exportation is laid down in each Annex.
  • The goods must be reexported in the same state. They must not undergo any change during their stay in the country of temporary importation, except normal depreciation due to the use made of them.
  • Economic prohibitions or restrictions at importation are not applied since they generally relate to goods cleared for home use, thus serving as a national protection measure.