Updated April 2021 EU Transit Manual for speedy border clearance

Essential guidance on how the transit system works and how to make T1 declarations has been updated in April 2021.

When is transit used?

When goods enter a country/territory, customs will demand payment of import duties and other charges and, where appropriate, apply commercial policy measures (for example antidumping duties). This is the case even where the goods are only

meant to pass through (to transit) that country/territory on their way to another. Under certain conditions the taxes and charges paid may be reimbursed when the goods leave that country/territory. In the next country/territory this procedure may

have to be repeated. The goods may have to undergo a series of administrative procedures at border crossings before reaching their final destination.

Main functions of transit

Transit is a customs facility available to operators who move goods across borders or territories without paying the charges due in principle when the goods enter (or leave) the territory thus requiring only one (final) customs formality.

Compared to the situation described in the first paragraph, it offers an administratively simple and cost advantageous procedure to carry goods across customs territories.

Transit is particularly relevant to the European Union where a single customs territory is combined with a multiplicity of fiscal territories: goods can move under transit from their point of entry into the Union to the point of their final destination where, after

transit has ended, the customs and the local fiscal obligations are taken care of and the goods are released for free circulation or placed under another customs suspensive procedure. Also, a suspensive procedure can be ended by placing non-Union goods under transit, for example, re-export from the Union customs territory.

About the Manual

The Manual is presented in nine main parts as follows: General Introduction; Status of

Goods; Guarantees; Standard Transit Procedure NCTS (new computerized transit

system); Business continuity procedure; Simplifications; Discharge and enquiry; Debt

and Recovery; and the TIR procedure. The Manual is updated whenever new developments in the common and Union transit systems make this necessary.

It must be stressed that the Manual does not constitute a legally binding act and is of an

explanatory nature. The Manual gives, however, a common interpretation.

How it is structured

General table of contents

Part I: General introduction

Part II: Status of goods

Part III: Guarantees

Part IV: Standard transit procedure

Part V: Business continuity procedure

Part VI: Simplifications

Part VII: Discharge of the transit operation, the enquiry procedure

Part VIII: Debt and Recovery

Part IX: : The TIR Procedure

List of commonly used abbreviations

List of definitions

General information source

Part II – Status of goods

The proposed update of Part II of the Transit Manual clarifies the mainly administrative practices that are already applied today. A written review is now organized based on the version Rev. 5. The written review is addressed to both customs and trade delegates.

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Customs Transit Manual Draft (Part II)

Download the full manual - updated in April 2021

EU Transit Manual 2021

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