Improving Customs Transit Systems
In the Islamic Countries
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Customs transit procedures are all the activities designed to facilitate the movement of goods
that cross one or more customs territories or countries, without risking customs revenue, which
could be threatened if transit goods were illegally diverted (sold) in the market of the transit
country. It is not a customs clearance procedure, but the movement of goods under customs
control. In most of the cases, the principal for transit procedures is the carrier or freight
forwarder, not the company that imports or owns the goods. The principal provides the
guarantee and presents the transit declaration (manifest) to the customs. The customs transit
declaration is a simplified document, which will need to be processed differently from customs
clearance at the border. This means that full document checking, customs tariff classification,
and customs valuation will not be necessary regarding CTR.
When goods are in transit and need to cross one or more transit countries, the CAs in each
country can apply different national customs transit procedures including controls (an effective
CTR doesn't require physical control of goods). These procedures vary between the countries,
in most cases they cover the inspection of the cargo and means of transport, ensuring security
requirements such as guarantee, bonds, or deposits to cover the potential duty, taxes and other
charges while goods are in transit and security measures ensuring that the transit shipment will
leave the transit country in the same state as they enter the transit country (checking seals about
possible damages). In most of the cases, a typical customs transit procedure is based on the
following (Figure 1):
Customs office of entry - When the consignment comes to the customs office of entry with the
transport documentation, the customs office accepts transit documents, affixes the seals and
checks and accepts the guarantee provided by the principal. Based on the type of transit goods
and national legislation of the transit country, sometimes certain licenses may be required to be
issued by the competent authority. When it comes to transit documents, different modes of
transit will require different procedure and documents. In some cases, the Customs will define
the maximum transit time for the truck and/or the required, shortest route to take. As a means
of control, the Customs may also place a Global Positioning System (GPS) transmitter on top of
the truck cabin, so that the position of the truck can be controlled at any point in real-time. The
same transmitter is then dismounted and returned to the Customs once the truck leaves the
country. Customs seals may also have the Radio-frequency identification (RFID) or GPS
technology, enabling the real-time control of the truck and immediate notification if there is any
attempt at seal tampering.
Transit stage - If there is any reason to change the customs office of exit, the carrier will need
to ask for permission to change the office of destination during the transit operation. Also,
sometimes during the transit of goods, there can be some random checkpoints by customs
mobile units, police, or other agencies that can do an additional inspection of documents and