Execution and issue of ATA Carnets
Information for the ATA Carnet holders
In December 1961, the Customs Cooperation Council (GATT) in Brussels passed the 'Customs Convention on the ATA Carnet for temporary admission of goods'. In June 1990, the 'Convention on temporary admission with amendments' was adopted. The ATA Carnet System is currently in force in 75 countries throughout the world.
ATA Carnets are offered by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the exporting country to traders, sales professionals, exhibitors and other international business travelers. The Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the 60th member of the ATA system in accordance with the decision of the ICC WCF World ATA Carnet Council (WATAC), which serves as the national guaranteeing organization authorized to issue the ATA Carnets on the territory of the Republic of Belarus.
The ATA Carnet is an international customs document, enabling easy and quick effecting of the temporary import of goods for trade fairs and exhibitions, as well as commercial samples and professional equipment. On the territory of the Conventions member countries it can substitute the customs declaration in relation to the temporarily imported goods, as it guarantees the import duties payment and grants the exemption of providing bank guarantee, deposit, pledge or any other means to secure the payment.
The name 'Carnet' origins from the French language and is translated as 'writing pad' or 'checkbook'. The abbreviation ATA stands for the combination of the abbreviations of the French and English words 'admission temporaire' and 'temporary admission'. The ATA Carnet consists of the cover and several multicoloured loose leafs, containing the information about its holder, the goods, the destination of the goods, the transport rout, etc.
The advantages of the ATA Carnet over the customs declaration are as follows:
the exemption from filling-in the customs documents at the border entry points of the importing and exporting countries;
the exporter doesn’t bear personal and financial responsibility for the goods on the territory of the importing country;
the possibility for business executives, exponents and the representatives of various other professions (film crew members, photographers, entertainers, etc.) to execute the customs documents for the destination country(es) quickly, with the fee being preset;
the ability for the holders to demonstrate their goods to the potential foreign customers without taking large sums of foreign currency to be placed on deposit;
the possibility to move the goods across frontiers for up to one year after the ATA Carnet issuance;
the favourable conditions for customs clearance, as the ATA Carnet reduces the amount of paper work to be done. The system presupposes simplified customs procedures, helping both the holders and the customs authorities to reduce the time and the administrative costs necessary for temporary export/import control.
The procedure of obtaining ATA Carnet takes less time than going through all the customs formalities. At the border entry point the customs officer tears away the leaf of the relevant colour (voucher) to be left at the customs authorities and endorses the other ATA Carnet leafs (vouchers). The ATA Carnet holder shall return the document to the issuing Chamber of Commerce and Industry after the implementation of all the operations with or upon the expiration of the ATA Carnet.
Contacts:
Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
11, Kommunisticheskaya St., office 304, 220029, Minsk
Tel.: +375 17 334 97 09