ATA Carnet advances towards digitisation

The meeting was held at the invitation of the WCO Compliance and Facilitation Directorate, allowing the ICC WCF’s eATA Steering Committee to meet with the WCO eATA Working Group, which is chaired by Matthias Reimann of the European Commission of Taxation and Customs Union Directorate-General (TAXUD). The ICC WCF’s eATA Steering Committee presented a centralised eATA study, along with a demonstration.

Building upon its successful work to date with Mercury—a centralised repository of key ATA data—the ICC WCF showcased the advantages that digitising the ATA Carnet could provide, such as facilitating transactions, increasing data security, preventing claims and reducing administration. The ICC WCF’s delegation also spoke about its importance to Customs, as well as the business community.

During this meeting with key WCO members from more than 15 nations, including the European Union, customs officials welcomed the initiative. Many were eager to join a potential pilot programme, which is set to be launched in the coming year.

Additionally, presentations led by the ICC WCF’s ATA leadership illustrated the advancement of the current Mercury concept and workflow system of the Mercury Phase II-real-time lifecycle management system, in addition to explaining the options on how Customs could easily integrate into the Mercury system.

ATA Carnet is an international customs document that permits the tax-free and duty-free temporary export and import of goods for up to one year. The system is operated under two international conventions (ATA and Istanbul Conventions) and is jointly administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and ICC through the World Chambers Federation. ATA Carnet is currently in force in 77 countries and economies throughout the world today.