MANAMA: The Kingdom of Bahrain will start accepting and issuing ATA Carnets from Sunday June 1st, it was announced by Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the appointed National Issuing and Guaranteeing Organization.
The initials ATA are an acronym of the French and English words Admission Temporaire /Temporary Admission.
The ATA Carnet, the so-called passport for goods, is an international Customs document that permits duty-free and tax-free temporary importation of goods into other countries without the need for the normal customs procedures. Administered by the World Chambers Federation (WCF) of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce, (ICC), currently there are more than 70 countries in the global network of ATA Carnets.
“After Bahrain became a signatory to the Istanbul Convention on Temporary Movement of Commercial Goods in 2012, BCCI has been appointed by the Bahrain Customs Authority as the National Issuing and Guaranteeing Organization (NIGO) of ATA Carnets,” Nabeel A. Rahman Al-Mahmood, CEO of BCCI, confirmed.
“The expansion of world trade, has led to significant growth of temporary exports and imports of different kinds of goods and the anticipated implementation of ATA Carnets in Bahrain, the national economy is set to benefit from the simplified customs procedures,” he added.
The Members Services Department on the Ground floor of BCCI will assume responsibility for issuing and guaranteeing Carnets. Both members and non members can avail this facility. Complete details including the cost of Carnets are posted on the www.bcci.bh