Improving Customs Transit Systems
In the Islamic Countries
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North Macedonia (former FYROM) and Serbia), except simplifications concerning certain modes
of transport where a commercial/transport document serves as the transit declaration (such as
for example in simplified procedures in air, sea, or rail where, respectively, the manifest or CIM
consignment note serves as the transit declaration), the business continuity procedure (fallback
procedure) and for travelers who can use a paper-based declaration in certain situations. EU
plans to extend the NCTS operation to interested countries - Georgia, Ukraine, Albania, Moldova,
Montenegro, and Bosnia & Herzegovina.
The transit in the EU can be divided into two transit regimes:
 Union transit - applies in the customs territory of the EU (28 MS), Andorra and San
Marino (Customs Union);
 Convention on a common transit procedure / Single Administrative Document (SAD)
Convention - Apply between the EU, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein,
Turkey, Republic of North Macedonia and Serbia.
2.2.3.2 NCTS Functionalities
NCTS provides a fully computerized customs regime for goods which enter into the Common
Transit. Its goal consists of strengthening and modernizing the means of customs control in the
context of the European Single Market and the associated countries (EFTA)67, and in reducing
the possibilities for fraudulent operation inherent in the former paper-based OTS (Old Transit
System)
The OTS was based on manual, paper-based procedure; the information on transit was sent
through fax. It suffered from the following problems68:
 Operational Problems;
 Manual handling of documents (20M SAD/Year);
 Incorrect transit declarations;
 The slowness of manual procedure;
 Inefficient customs controls;
 Fraud
 Falsified guarantee certificates;
 Goods not presented at destination & falsified copies (the result of control)
returned;
 Falsified stamps;
 Falsified declarations;
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