In June 2002 the Federal Cabinet resolved to accede to and implement the Istanbul Convention on ATA Carnet in Pakistan. On 18th May 2004 Government of Pakistan deposited the Instrument of Ratification to the Convention on Temporary Admission (Istanbul Convention) with the World Customs Organization. ICC Pakistan has been designated the National Guaranteeing and Issuing Organization for the ATA Carnets in Pakistan by the Government of Pakistan. The rules for the ATA Carnets in Pakistan have been finalized by the Central Board of Revenue and are awaited to be notified in order to go into implementation. An Implementation Workshop would be required to be conducted prior to going into implementation.

On 18 May 2004, His Excellency Tariq Fatemi, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Kingdom of Belgium deposited the instrument of Ratification to the Convention on Temporary Admission (concluded at Istanbul on 26 June 1990).

The Convention on Temporary Admission (the Istanbul Convention) is a single international instrument combining all the existing Conventions on temporary admission. It is aimed at simplifying and harmonising temporary admission procedures. The Convention entered into force on 27 November 1993 and Pakistan becomes the 45th Contracting Party. Temporary admission without payment of customs duties is established to minimise the costs of border crossing and provides an important incentive for the development of a country’s economic activity.

The Convention provides for the free movement of goods across frontiers and their temporary admission into a Customs territory with relief from duties and taxes. It also requires contracting parties to accept the ATA carnet, an international customs document that assures through an international guarantee system that duties and taxes will be paid in cases of misuse.

With this system the international business community enjoys considerable simplification of Customs formalities as the ATA carnet also serves as a goods declaration at export, transit and import.

The ATA carnet is now the document most widely used by the business community for international operations involving the temporary admission of goods.