In such cases, the customs office of departure and customs office of destination continue to play a crucial role in completing the ‘carnet’ with the necessary information and in the validation process.
The carnet consists of different ‘transit vouchers’, each with a specific objective and use. The customs office of departure will complete and validate transit voucher 1 and complete the co-ordinates of the customs office to which transit voucher 2 needs to be sent back to. The customs office of destination will complete and validate transit voucher 2.
Many countries all over the world accept ATA carnets, which are issued by the various Chambers of Commerce.
The basis of this procedure is the ATA Convention and the Convention on Temporary Admission (or Istanbul Convention). IA Articles 283 and 284 contain the legal provisions for use of the ATA carnet in the EU.
Example of the ATA procedure
An aircraft unloads a consignment of paintings from Argentina at Frankfurt Airport. These paintings are to be transported by truck to Moscow where they will form part of an art exhibition. An ATA carnet can be used as the declaration for the consignment’s external transit from Frankfurt to the place where the goods leave the EU.