The UAE has announced the joining of an international trade
convention which enables the temporary import of goods without the
incurring the usual customs duties and formalities.
On Monday 13 September 2010, the UAE issued a decree approving the
joining of the Istanbul Convention which, at the time of writing,
has yet to be gazetted. This new convention (its full name being
"Convention on Temporary Admission" done at Istanbul on
26 June 1990) is a single international instrument combining all
the existing conventions on temporary admission, including ATA
Convention (its full name being "Customs Convention on the ATA
Carnet for the temporary admission of goods" done at Brussels
on 6 December 1961).
The basic features of the Istanbul Convention are:
- Simplifying and harmonizing the customs procedures (especially the temporary admission procedure); and
- Facilitating the temporary admission in pursuit of economic objectives by minimising the costs of border crossing of the goods between the member countries.
These features are achieved by the adoption of standardised model papers as international customs documents with international security for temporary importation of goods, one of which being the ATA carnet.
The acronym ATA is a combination of French and English phrases "Admission Temporaire/Temporary Admission". The ATA carnet is an international customs document that allows the holder too temporarily (for the period of not more than a year) import goods without payment of normally applicable customs duties while avoiding the trouble of normal customs formalities/hassles.
The use of a single and the same document such as the ATA carnet will allow 70 member countries to save time, money and customs formalities during the temporary admission of goods (irrespective of the number of border crossings, differences in national customs regulations and type of goods).
The Istanbul Convention will be of direct benefit in particular to the importers and exporters of goods used in exhibitions, events and concerts.
In preparation of implementing the ATA Carnet System (which will take place by the end of this year), Dubai Chamber in cooperation with the UAE Federal Customs Authority will be hosting a series of workshops over a period of a year to show how to deal with the operation of the ATA Carnet.
The UAE's joining of the Istanbul Convention, and the introduction of the ATA Carnet System, is a positive development for a range of industries and is also indicative of an ongoing process of streamlining of trade related regulation by the UAE. A number of impending trade and commerce related law revisions have been announced in recent months.
A list of participating member countries of the Istanbul Convention can be found on the UK Revenue and Customs website here.
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