Autumn Carnet update

October sees the Carnet team continuing momentum from our exceptional month of September, where we saw our highest figures since May 2024. It was a fantastic achievement and one that reflects the incredible hard work of the whole team.

Throughout the month, the team managed particularly high volumes of applications, often working to extremely tight deadlines and turning around Carnets within just a few hours, while continuing to maintain the compliance standards that underpin the service we provide.

I’m incredibly proud of the team and particularly grateful to our staff who are genuinely invested in supporting our customers. Whether an application is straightforward or requires us to work through a more complex itinerary or deadline, our focus remains on providing personal support and practical solutions.

A huge thank you to our customers, too, for continuing to choose us for your Carnet needs and for trusting us to support you as we navigate the move to digital Carnets together.

That transition continues to gather pace. Businesses, issuing bodies, NGOs, customs authorities and the ICC are all gaining confidence in using digital Carnets and seeing the benefits as the technology continues to develop in real time.

New functionality is also improving the digital experience. Supporting document uploads have recently been introduced, while forthcoming developments include a voucher-sharing audit trail, which will provide greater visibility and control over QR code sharing, and a new Carnet Transaction Certificate, designed to provide evidence of a digital Carnet transaction for claims involving paper countries.

The international rollout is continuing too, with the UAE joining in November, followed by Moldova and Serbia in early 2027.

Our customers are playing an important part in this journey. Your experiences and feedback provide essential insight into how digital Carnets work in practice and help to shape their ongoing development.

We have now seen 6,637 digital transactions processed for Business West-issued Carnets, with the number of transactions in the most recent two months more than 50% higher than in the first two months. This is a strong indication of just how quickly the new digital Carnet system is growing.

An important reminder when planning your journey

At present, countries cannot be added to a digital Carnet once it has been issued, so please think carefully about your complete itinerary and any possible changes before submitting your application.

Where there is a possibility that your route could change, consider whether you may need to include all current digital destinations; EU, Switzerland and Norway from the outset.

Our Carnet team can help you consider your itinerary when applying.

Thank you again to all our customers for your continued business, trust and feedback. We look forward to supporting you as the digital Carnet journey continues.