The Istanbul Convention Convention relating to temporary admission

Type of Agreement: Multilateral

Place of Signature: Istanbul

Date of Signature: 26/06/1990 Date of Entry Into Force 27/11/1993

Duration: Indefinite

Objective of Agreement: To facilitate temporary admission by simplifying and harmonizing procedures through the adoption of standardized model papers as international customs documents with international security, thereby contributing to the development of international trade.

Remarks: 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 harmonizing temporary admission procedures.

It entered into force on 27 November 1993.

Temporary admission without payment of customs duties is established to minimize 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.

Working on the text

Ex.1. SKIMMING:

a. Read the headline and the first sentence of each paragraph of the text.  Pair up to discuss the topic of the article.

b. Read the first paragraph and the last paragraph of the text. Then work in pairs to discuss the contents of the piece.

c. Read the text. Get into pairs to discuss the contents of the piece. 

Ex.2. SCANNING:

a. While scanning the text find the answers for content-specific questions given by the teacher.

b. While scanning the text pick out the sentences containing the key words given by the teacher.

Ex.3. READING: Read and translate the text.

Ex.4. CHAT:  Talk in pairs or groups about the “The Istanbul Convention”.

Ex.5. THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION BRAINSTORM: Spend one minute writing down all the words you associate with the topics ‘Temporary admission’. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

Ex.6. DEBATES: Students face each other in pairs and engage in the foliowing debates. The subject is “The rules of temporary admission procedures”.

Ex.7. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations with each word.

Ex.8. TRUE / FALSE: Look through the article and say whether these sentences are true or false:

1. The objective of the Istanbul Convention is to facilitate temporary admission by simplifying and harmonizing procedures through the adoption of standardized model papers as international customs documents with international security, thereby contributing to the development of international trade. T / F

2. The Convention on Temporary Admission (the Arusha Declaration) is a single international instrument combining all the existing Conventions on temporary admission. T/F

3. The Istanbul Convention entered into force on 27 November 1947. T/F

4. Temporary admission without payment of customs duties is established to minimize the costs of border crossing and provides an important incentive for the development of a country’s economic activity. T/F

5. The Convention provides for the strictly limited movement of goods across frontiers. T/F

6. 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. T/F

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

Ex.9. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on the treaty. Share your findings with your class.

Ex.10. LETTER: Write a letter to the WCO executive explaining your views on the matter described.

Ex.11. PUBLIC POLICY: You are the leader of your country. Create a list of rules and instructions on additional measures assisting the treaty execution in your country.