The Administrative Committee for the Convention on Temporary Admission (Istanbul Convention) and Contracting Parties to the Customs Convention on the ATA Carnet for the Temporary Admission of Goods (ATA Convention) held a virtual joint meeting on November 2, 2023, attended by approximately 160 delegates representing more than 60 Contracting Parties and observers.

The Deputy Director of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Brendan C. O'Hearn, stressed the need for Customs and the trading community to revise existing business models and applying new approaches in the context of trade facilitation and border administration given the dramatic changes in the global trading environment.

With the progression of the e-ATA Pilot Project from the pilot phase to the preparation phase, the Committee agreed on an updated eATA global transition timeline with the plan to go fully digital by 2027 and thus invited the International Chamber of Commerce World Chamber Federation (ICC WCF), in coordination with the WCO Secretariat, to draw up an eATA global transition Customs Preparation Guide and provide eATA global training to Customs authorities.

Further, the Committee received a presentation from United Kingdom (UK) and Switzerland on their experience in piloting the eATA carnet. Notably, the first fully digital round trip e-ATA transaction was completed between the UK and Belgium.

The Carnet is a customs document secured in the seller's country, which guarantees the importing country that it will be compensated for the duties and taxes applicable if the goods it covers are not re-exported. It is valid for a maximum of one year. ATA is a French and English acronym of "Admission Temporaire/Temporary Admission." Carnets are commonly used by sales people and manufacturers to bring their wares into foreign countries to show as commercial samples to potential customers or to display at trade fairs and exhibitions.

 

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