About ATA Carnet

ATA is an acronym of the French and English words for “Admission Temporaire/Temporary Admission”.

It is an International Customs document issued by Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) to provide hassle free and speedy customs clearance of goods such as commercial samples, professional equipment, and exhibition items into one or a number of foreign countries of visit/transit. It eliminates the need for raising a bond, or paying duties/taxes and completion of tedious foreign custom formalities.

The ATA Carnet is based on an International guaranteeing chain of Chambers of Commerce which guarantees full payment of customs duties/taxes should the goods failed to be re-exported within the time limit stipulated by the customs administration for their temporary importation.

As such, ATA Carnet users/holders are required to furnish to PCCI a security, which shall be returned to them when the goods are fully re-exported from the countries of visit/transit within the time limit set by the customs administration.The ATA Carnet System was established under the Convention on Temporary Admission / Istanbul Convention, and aims to serve as a trade facilitation tool to simplify and unify customs border crossing regulations for temporary import and export of goods.

According to the International Chamber of Commerce, the ATA Carnet is an international customs document that permits duty-free and tax-free temporary import of goods for up to one year. Its merchandise passport will also assist in the re-entry of the product to any contracting states since it gets rid of the requirement to register goods with the contracting states at the time of departure.

CAO 02-2022 Rules and Regulations in the Implementation of the ATA System in the Philippines