eATACarnet Pilot Participants Announced

The U.K. is on the front lines of the eATACarnet development. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) just announced the participants in the coming Phase II of the eATACarnet project: the digitization of the ATA Carnet. Those participants are:

1. Belgium,
2. China,
3. Germany,
4. Russia,
5. Switzerland,
6. the United Kingdom and
7. the United States.

Each country's involvement could be through their national guaranteeing association, customs or both. The pilot is scheduled to begin during the 1^st quarter of 2019.

The design of the U.K. pilot is unclear at this time. It is likely to include a discrete number of ATA Carnet users from one airport traveling to another of the participating countries. Boomerang carnets is in the unique position of either issuing or preparing carnets in two of the participating countries, U.S. and U.K., and using the same digital platform which could make testing simple and easy to implement. However, our exact involvement in the U.K. pilot is not known.

"Tracking the location of an ATA Carnet and whether it has been properly validated has always been the biggest challenge for users, issuers and NGAs," commented Curt E.H. Wilson, Managing Director of boomerang carnets UK. "Once that data is captured electronically many claims will be avoided or mitigated which will make the ATA Carnet process even more beneficial than it already is for temporary imports."

The ICC has taken the initiative to develop the first real-time, global ATA Carnet lifecycle management application. The pilot is Phase II and will begin as soon as the new digital system finalizes development. Questions about the pilot or participation can be directed to Leslie August.