Improving Customs Transit Systems
In the Islamic Countries
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5.1.1.1.1 Bilateral and regional agreements
Establishment of cooperation on a bilateral and regional basis related to CTR is of utmost
importance to ensure freedom of transit and facilitating the transit.
One of the preconditions for an efficient CTR is an appropriate legal and procedural framework
assigned to and enforced by Customs administrations. WTO and WCO encourage the
governments and CAs to conclude and implement bilateral, regional, and international
agreements with other governments/CAs for cooperation on CTR.
An important element of the CTR legal framework is bilateral, regional, and international
cooperation between CAs to adopt a consistent framework on CTR and establishing of non-
discriminatory conditions for all goods in transit regardless of their flag of origin.
The international legal framework for CTR consists of several international agreements and
conventions that address the issues of transit facilitation and efficiency; WCO RKC, theWTO TFA,
and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the UN Vienna Programme of Action
(VPoA), the UN TIR Convention and the UN Harmonization Convention. All these international
agreements and conventions emphasize the importance of better cooperation among the CAs to
reduce excessive regulation and conformity of the transit procedures.
Box 11: CTR Regional Agreements
The following regional agreements are directly related to CTR as one aspect of broader trade
agreements. The EU-EFTA Convention on a Common Transit Procedure (1987) allows goods to move
efficiently across borders of the contracting parties and simplifies customs formalities, that enables
free transit the European Union MS) and the EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and
Switzerland), Turkey (since 1 December 2012), the Republic of North Macedonia (since 1 July 2015)
and Serbia (since 1 February 2016)122 .
The AFAFGIT Protocol 7123 is a legal pillar for facilitation in transit and implementation of ASEAN
ACTS. This Protocol defines the core elements such as uniform customs transit
declaration/document, regulated guarantee system, and management of the transit system.
5.1.1.1.2 The international legal framework for the CTR at the national and regional levels
WCO created the Revised Kyoto Convention as a quality standard for a modern, well-functioning
Customs administration. The Revised Kyoto Convention in its Specific Annex E provides a
comprehensive set of uniformprinciples for simple, effective, and predictable CTRwith effective
Customs control.
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