What does 'ATA Carnet' actually mean?

ATA Carnets in a post-Brexit world 

Before Brexit rules came into effect, businesses could move goods between the UK and other EU territories with relative ease. Now, the process of moving your goods from the UK to the EU is a lot more complicated: customs declarations must be completed; and import duties/taxes must be paid.

However, when it comes to the temporary movement of goods (i.e. exporting goods out of the country and re-importing them within 12 months or less), there is a helpful alternative: you can use an ATA Carnet to move the goods tax and duty-free.

Essentially, ATA Carnets can alleviate all the customs charges involved in the goods movement process. They act as guarantees to foreign customs that you will re-export your goods from their country within a certain time-frame (maximum temporary importation period is 1 year) and in turn they will suspend customs duties at the point of importation. Therefore, you do not have to pay the usual importation taxes that would otherwise apply, unless the goods are not re-exported or the Carnet is misused. 

Since they only cover the temporary movement of goods, ATA Carnets are mostly used by: 

• musicians taking their equipment overseas to concerts and festivals
• sports organisations taking their professional equipment abroad for competitions 
• businesses taking commercial samples to present to their clients, and 
• exhibitors going to international trade fairs or exhibitions.

With so many first-time ATA Carnet applicants since new Brexit laws came into effect, one of the most common questions that we receive is:

“What does ‘ATA Carnet’ mean?”

So, we want to answer that question.

The meaning of ‘ATA Carnet’ 

The acronym ‘ATA’ is a combination of the French and English terms ‘Admission Temporaire/Temporary Admission,’ and ‘Carnet’ is the French word for ‘notebook’. 

Altogether, ‘ATA Carnet’ effectively means ‘Temporary Admission Notebook.’

What is an ATA Carnet?

In very simple terms, an ATA Carnet is effectively a ‘passport for goods.’ It is a physical customs document (pictured below) containing a full list (referred to as the ‘general list’) of goods/equipment, and facilitates the temporary movement of the listed goods out of the UK and into other countries on the ATA Carnet scheme.

ATA Carnet physical customs document

What is an ATA Carnet used for?

ATA Carnets are not mandatory, but they can be vital in saving time and money if you are temporarily taking goods out of the UK. They can be used to take the following goods overseas: 

• Professional equipment
  This includes goods such as camera equipment, music/concert equipment, equipment for educational, scientific or cultural purposes, sporting equipment, and manufacturing equipment
• Commercial samples
  This includes any goods that you might want to take to show overseas customers or potential customers
• Goods that you need for display or use at international trade fairs or exhibitions

This also means that ATA Carnets cannot be used for any perishable or consumable goods, such as food, water, pens, paper, leaflets, or flyers.

Who can issue ATA Carnets?

The ATA Carnet is jointly administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) through its World Chambers Federation. Business West is one of the organisations that can issue ATA Carnets in the UK .

Find out more about ATA Carnets or get in contact with the team today.