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The Tribune Online Jaipur, 17 January 2014


Pawan Kumar Jain asks Rajasthan exporters to utilise ATA Carnet By Deepak Arora

JAIPUR, Jan 17: Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in association with FIEO & GJEPC (Rajasthan Region) organised a workshop on ATA Carnet "Your visa for temporary export/ import of goods between international borders" to highlightits its uses and interact with the local export community to educate them about the benefits of using this facility. The Inaugural address was given by Mr Pawan Kumar Jain, Commissioner of Customs, Jaipur.

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 73 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 was recently signed between FICCI in India and TAITRA in Taiwan. The same is expected to be implemented soon.

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.

Highlighting the benefits of ATA Carnet at the workshop, Mr. Nirankar Saxena, Senior Director FICCI stated that ATA Carnet is an International customs document created to facilitate duty free and tax free temporary imports of goods in 73 countries. He said that it was a joint initiative of the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the ICC World Chambers Federation (WCF). He also pointed out that the usage of ATA Carnet in India is low whereas in countries like Switzerland and Germany it is five times higher per annum.

S. Vijayalakshmi, Deputy Director, FICCI, in her presentation said that the exporter using carnets should refrain from selling goods under ATA Carnet as it is allowed only "temporary import" of goods into another member country. She further stated that the carnets are intended for re-exportation and not for sale in the country of temporary admission.

Earlier Mr Gyan Prakash, FICCI Rajasthan State Council gave an overview of the activities of FICCI and welcomed the signatories and delegates.

The seminar was attended by large number of participants from the exim and trading and business community from all over Rajasthan.