Mr. M Sreedhar Reddy, IRS, Commissioner, Customs Calicut, inaugurated the Workshop on ATA Carnet organised by FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry in association with Malabar Chamber of Commerce, Calicut Chamber of Commerce and Kerala Chamber of Commerce (Southern Region). Highlighting the importance of the workshop for the local export community Mr. Deepak L. Aswani, Co-Chairman, FICCI Kerala State Council, stated during his opening remarks that, “The workshop is a great initiative by FICCI in educating people on the use of Carnet and appreciating the value it brings to the export community.” Mr. Nirankar Saxena, Senior Director, FICCI, believes that ATA Carnet has tremendous benefits. According to him FICCI was working on a special framework for the MSME sector to increase the usage of ATA Carnet. There was also a presentation made on the application and practical usages of ATA Carnet by Ms. Vijayalakshmi, Deputy Director, FICCI. Mr. K Janardanan, Airport Director (AAI), Kozhikode International Airport, Calicut made a special address on the occasion.
ATA Carnet is a temporary admission document which simplifies the customs procedures and clearances in a foreign country, without paying duty or a bank guarantee for temporary import into that country. Like a passport for goods, ATA Carnet allows for the goods for which it was issued to enter any of the participating countries for up to one year. An ATA Carnet holder can avoid customs declaration and can do away with security deposit or guarantees in the country of importation. In India, FICCI is the sole National Guarantor for ATA Carnets.
ATA Carnet covers several areas for use including trade fairs, shows, exhibitions, meetings etc. for temporary export into a country which is a signatory to the conventions governing ATA Carnets. Goods must be re-exported out of every country and re-imported into India within a year. At present 75 countries recognize ATA Carnet, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, UAE, UK and USA. To facilitate Carnet like mechanism for temporary movement of goods/exhibits between India and Taiwan, a protocol has also been signed between FICCI in India and TAITRA in Taiwan.
The Government is actively considering to expand the scope of ATA Carnet convention. At present, India is a signatory to convention on exhibitors and fairs only. It is proposed to expand the same to cover commercial samples, professional equipment, private exhibitions, film shootings, musical troupes, sports and media coverage etc. FICCI, which is the National Issuing and Guaranteeing Association (NIGA) for implementing ATA Carnets in India, is pursuing the matter with the Ministry of Finance for the expansion of scope of system to cover professional equipment and commercial samples.
According to Mr. Nirankar Saxena, Senior Director, FICCI, ATA Carnet is a joint initiative of the World Customs Organization (WCO) and ICC World Chambers Federation (WCF), which initiated the ATA Carnet (ATA and Istanbul Conventions). He added that WCO and WCF/WATAC jointly administer the ATA carnet system worldwide and it ensures its smooth functioning and helps to promote its use and expansion throughout the World.
World over 75 countries have recognized the Carnet system. In India, FICCI has been entrusted the work of issuing Carnets to the trade and industry. Entertainment, gem and jewellery, automobile, engineering, leather and individual design artists were some of the important sectors using Carnets, he said.
Ms. S. Vijayalakshmi, Deputy Director, FICCI spoke on ATA Carnet and its introduction, its analysis and its roles towards a smooth transit from one country to another. She said commercial samples, professional equipment and goods meant for fairs and exhibits could be exported or imported under Carnet. She also spoke on documents to be endorsed by customs at the time of export and re-export from a foreign country and about rights and obligations of a carnet holder. She also explained the online procedures involved to get an ATA Carnet issued from FICCI.
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