On June 22, the World Customs Organisation (WCO) joined the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of its ATA Carnet at the thirteenth World Chambers Congress in Geneva, Switzerland – the home of the World Trade Organisation.

As the world’s biggest business organisation, the ICC represents more than 45-million companies globally, with the congress co- organised by the Geneva CCI (Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services) under the theme ‘Achieving Peace and Prosperity through Multilateralism’. The congress’s focus was on the role of business and CCIs in revitalising multilateralism for a more sustainable and prosperous future.

The congress brought together over 1 500 participants from over 120 countries. During the three-day event, over 40 sessions were held on various topical matters shaped around the concepts of multilateralism, innovation and sustainability.

To celebrate the ATA Carnet’s anniversary, a dedicated session was held as part of the congress programme. The WCO, as a depository of the ATA and Istanbul Conventions on which the ATA Carnet is based, participated at the ATA Carnet session through a panel discussion. During the discussion, the WCO highlighted the value of the ATA Carnet in facilitating the free movement of goods across frontiers and their temporary admission into a Customs territory with relief from duties and taxes, and also emphasised the high level of cooperation between the Customs community and national guaranteeing associations. The WCO also spotlighted the importance of ATA Carnet digitalisation as a way to enhance the efficiency, reliability and cost-effectiveness of temporary import operations to the benefit of both Customs and the business community. The WCO embraced the eATA initiative and recognised the progress made so far and acknowledged that the successful use of the ATA Carnet was an important milestone for the WCO, the ICC and the entire Chamber network.

If you need reminding, the instalment of this column titled ‘eATA Carnet project’ and published on December 2, 2022, dealt with this.

The ATA acronym is a combination of the initial letters of the French phrase ‘Admission Temporaire’ and the English phrase ‘Temporary Admission’. An ATA Carnet is an international Customs document that permits the duty- and tax-free temporary importation of merchandise for up to one year. It contains preprepared unified Customs declaration forms to be used at each country’s Customs border offices and serves as a guarantee for duties and taxes. The ATA Convention and the Istanbul Convention are trade facilitation tools. An ATA Carnet cuts red tape by simplifying and unifying Customs border-crossing regulations for temporary import and export.

An ATA Carnet enables exhibitors, salespeople, artistes, athletes, television crews, technicians, event participants and business travellers to travel through Customs without paying import duties (the collective for all duties payable on importation or exportation) or taxes at each Customs border office; to use one unified document for all declarations at home and abroad; to use one document for multiple destinations and trips throughout its one-year validity; and to make advance Customs arrangements at predetermined costs.

ATA Carnets are mainly issued to cover merchandise for use at trade fairs, shows and exhibitions; professional equipment; commercial samples; and personal effects and goods for sports purposes.

Customs authorities accept an ATA Carnet in accordance with the scope of application that they ratified. The merchandise must not undergo any changes while in the country of temporary importation. The ATA Carnet does not cover perishable or consumable items, goods for processing or repair, or certain means of transport.

The ATA Carnet is widely welcomed by countries wishing to boost international cooperation and take advantage of the global economy.