ATA carnet

What it means

An ATA carnet is an international customs document, a sort of “passport for goods”, that allows goods to be taken temporarily to countries outside the EU and brought back without paying customs duty or import tax and without a separate customs declaration in each country. The name comes from the French and English Admission Temporaire / Temporary Admission.

It is used for commercial samples, goods for trade fairs and exhibitions and professional equipment, such as cameras, measuring instruments or musical instruments, that a company needs abroad for a job. The goods may not be sold or consumed abroad and must return within the set period.

A carnet is valid for up to one year and is accepted in more than 80 countries, including Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the USA and China. In Slovakia it is issued by the Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which also guarantees to foreign customs authorities any duty due if the goods do not come back.

How it works in practice

To obtain a carnet the company submits a list of goods with description, quantity, weight and value and provides the chamber with security, such as a bank guarantee or cash deposit. At every border crossing a customs officer endorses the relevant carnet sheet, so the carnet must travel with the goods and be stamped both on leaving and on return.

For VAT, temporary export is not a supply of goods because ownership does not change and the goods return. It is still wise to flag goods in transit in the stock records so that they are not searched for in the warehouse at stocktaking and treated as a shortage.

If a buyer turns up at the fair wanting to purchase on the spot, the carnet is not enough. The goods must be properly cleared in that country with duty and tax paid, and in Slovakia the sale is treated as an export. In that case we recommend contacting a customs representative in the destination country in advance.

What to watch out for

The costliest mistake is not bringing the goods back in time or losing the endorsements. If foreign customs has no record of re-export, it claims the duty from the chamber, which recovers it from the company’s security. Keep copies of all stamped sheets until the security is released.

A carnet is not suitable for goods under bans or licences, such as dual-use goods, or for consumables. It is not needed at all for trade within the EU, because customs formalities do not apply in the single market.