Improving Customs Transit Systems
In the Islamic Countries
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1 Conceptual Framework
1.1 Custom transit regime concept and custom transit procedure
For a long period of time, the goods have transited through different countries and the customs
territories where they were subject to duties. Most countries began simplifying these
procedures in the XVII century, and thus the goods transported in transit through a customs
territory became free from payment of duties and taxes to the transit countries.
Trade facilitation aims to address CTR by simplifying and harmonizing transit formalities and
procedures and increasing transparency. The objective is to cut costs and time of transit and to
make transit operations more predictable.
There is a worldwide challenging mix of demands coming from trade, legal requirements,
national and regional plans, social security and risk management, as well as demands of a pure
technical nature. A growing globalization and international trade, combined with the recent
technological developments, especially the development of Information Communication
Technology (ICT) and the means of transport, place the pressure to Customs Administrations
(CAs) to re-engineer their CTRs to meet the interests of the country, especially in the domain of
security as well as the interests of the private sector and traders.
According to theWorld Customs Organization (WCO) Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC), customs
transit is defined as the Customs procedure under which goods are transported under Customs
control from one Customs office to another.
The Customs Transit Regimes (CTR) is the movement of goods and means of transports under
customs control without paying import duties, taxes, or other charges from:
 the entry border crossing point, to the inland customs office for customs clearance
(sometimes called ‘internal transit’);
 the entry border crossing point, to the exit customs border of the country where the
transit procedure is completed;
 the inland customs office to the exit customs border (also internal transit, but in the
reverse direction);
 the inland customs office to other inland customs office located in the customs territory
of the country.
 various moves to and from Free Trade Zones, whereby customs lines are crossed by
cargo under the suspensive regime.
According to these, there are customs transit movements that are within the same customs
territory, and they are part of the national transit.
When there is a movement inmore than one country, it is international transit . National transit
is used when goods are moving within national borders under customs control, from the point