How to apply for an ATA Carnet using eCert

Author
Fiona Parsons
Senior Marketing Manager - Commercial
20th July 2022

To get started

To apply for your ATA Carnets, you will use the online export documentation platform eCert. Signing up to eCert is simple and free to do.

To get started with applying for your ATA Carnet, click on the eCert link. This will take you through to the Bristol Chamber of Commerce version of eCert.

Click the ‘My company doesn’t have an eCert account box’.

Then fill in your details and click submit.

We will send you a welcome email, which includes details about a formal undertaking that you will need to complete and return before your account is activated. The formal undertaking will need any signatories on it that will be authorised by a principle of your company to apply for a Carnet.

Creating an application

Under the application tab, please click ‘New Application’ to start your first application.

 You will then be able to enter a reference that will help you keep track of your applications, which is useful if you want to leave and come back to your Carnet.  

You are also able to copy applications if you are entering similar information or you would like a reminder of what you have entered in the past.

eCert will also give you the option to upload your own documents, which may be relevant if you are working as an agent and you need to give us the letter of authority, or if the country you are travelling to requires an indemnity letter but other than that you will just need to select the Carnet option. 

 When starting your new application, the system takes you through step by step with explanations on how you should fill out each section. When selecting the destination country, the system will let you know if you are able to apply for a Carnet or any other export document that we offer.

If you would like to find out which countries are part of the Carnet Scheme before you apply, please click here.

After selecting your signature, you will then be taken through to the main Carnet page. 

This will allow you to click on the boxes of the Carnet page to fill out relevant information, or on the left-hand side, you can click on whichever box you wish to fill out. The boxes that are not clickable are pre-filled with information that cannot be amended. Your address will be pulled through to your application, but please double-check this to ensure it is correct.

Box B should include the person(s) who is going to take the Carnet through customs and is authorised to sign the declaration. 

Any names that are included in this section must match the passport of the carrier. If you do not know who will be carrying the Carnet and therefore cannot fill out this section, you can select the ‘Any Authorised Representative’ template from the drop-down menu. This allows you to use the ‘To Whom It May Concern’ letter instead, which is always attached to the Carnet when you know who will be carrying it.

Box C is where you confirm the intended use of the goods you are sending. 

This will be either commercial samples, goods for an international trade fair/exhibition, or professional equipment. Not all countries accept all intended uses, so please ensure you check beforehand. You can check our FAQs to find out more. You can then select the type of goods from the drop-down list. If your goods do not fit into one of these categories, please contact us and we will see what we can do to accommodate your situation.

Box P will include any countries that you will be visiting. 

If you are unsure exactly which countries you will be visiting it is worth including all countries you may visit. If you have had your Carnet issued but it is missing a country, we will be able to add to the list, but it will need to be sent to our office for us to make amendments. The number of visits is the amount of times you will be going through customs in the country. Countries in the EU are all included in the European Union option as they count as one customs union, so the number of visits will not be impacted by different countries visited if they are all in the EU. 

The transit box refers to any carnet countries you are purely travelling through. 

This means you will not be stopping in this country but are just travelling through it to get to another country. For example, if you are only travelling through Switzerland; you would put the number of transits (1) in this box. 

The number of exits from the UK depends on whether you will be coming back to the UK at some point but leaving again with your goods, in this case, you add two exits. 

This indicates how many vouchers we will need to print out for you, we always provide extras just in case any errors are made.

The reverse of the application is where you will add your general list of goods. 

Please ensure you use the template on eCert to ensure you can avoid any formatting errors. This also means that the checking process is as quick and easy as possible for our team so we can turn your Carnet around as quickly as possible. When filling this section out you need to add a description of your goods, the number of pieces, the weight (in kilograms), the value in GBP and the origin (iso country code).

The HD tick box at the start of the column indicates ‘HEADING’ and is used for information purposes only. For example, if you have a Pelicase that contains equipment you could click this box and write ‘PELICASE CONTAINING’ and put the items below this under the Pelicase heading in bold. This is purely a heading so will not require values or country of origin for the packaging itself. Headings are optional and packing information is not mandatory on the general list.

If your list is long, you can download the CSV template, which will open an excel spreadsheet using the same format. 

If you would like your row to be a heading, please put TRUE in the Heading column. Please also ensure in the description that you put the serial number of your goods, or if there is no serial number put NSN (NSN stands for No Serial Number) after the description. For example, CANON Camera – S/No:1234 or CANON Camera NSN. 

Once you have completed the list, please ensure you save the spreadsheet as a CSV file, this will allow you to upload it to your application. Calculating totals and numbers for your goods will be done automatically by the system, so do not worry about adding this to your spreadsheet.

Carnet security

The last section is the security. This is a guarantee that you will pay any claims that overseas customs may make should the carnet be used incorrectly. Ways you can secure the Carnet are:

  • A bank draft which will depend on the value of the goods, the countries visited, and the type of goods taken. We will hold the deposit for 33 months, which is the timeframe overseas customs can make a claim.
  • Immediate cover from our in-house indemnity scheme from Aviva. This will be non-refundable and a premium payable will be calculated.  
  • A guarantee from your bank or insurance company, but they must be FSD registered. This is done by having your bank or insurer fill out a form we send you and then send back to us.


The security section will then need to be completed in a separate section on the left of your application. Only the Immediate Cover creates another section to complete (Aviva guarantee tab – see below). The Deposit and Bank Guarantee options would need to be completed in eCert.

Some of the information will already be inputted by eCert, but please double-check to ensure everything is correct. The tick box ‘are the goods insured on an all-risks basis’ pertains to your own goods insurance.

Checking out

When checking out you will be offered the chance to choose either a priority or normal service, but please note, that Business West does not offer a priority service. 

If you are concerned about having the Carnet processed to a certain deadline, please contact the team by email or telephone (01275 370723) to discuss how we can help. Business West guarantees to turn your application around within 72 hours (3 days) if you have submitted everything correctly and only applies for a single Carnet. If you are submitting more than one, then we will need more time*. Once everything has been approved, we will print the Carnet off for you and send it by special delivery or another method that you can choose. Please note, although there is the option to have it sent by first class, we will not do this as there is a risk of it being lost.

To pay for your Carnet, please select the account drop-down and we will invoice you for the amount.

There is a blank text box where you can put a message to the Chamber, such as a specific delivery address, etc. Once you submit your application, our team will receive a notification, and they will be able to go into eCert and process it.

Tracking the stages of your application

You can do this by clicking the applications tab.

This is where the statuses of all your applications will be. If the application is pending, rejected, or approved this will be shown in the status column of the page. 

*Please note, at busy times we do operate longer lead-times.

 

  • Apply for an ATA Carnet today

    Start creating and submitting your ATA Carnets today. To apply for your carnet, you'll be taken to our easy-to-use export documentation platform, eCert.

Do you want to join the conversation?

Sign up here
  • Apply for an ATA Carnet today

    Start creating and submitting your ATA Carnets today. To apply for your carnet, you'll be taken to our easy-to-use export documentation platform, eCert.

  • ATA Carnet FAQs

    Our Carnet team have put together the most frequently asked questions they get asked about Carnets. Why not check them out to see if we can solve your question right now?

  • Business West and the Bristol Chamber of Commerce are a vital partner for us – their documentation services, and especially the online systems, help us greatly in providing quick and reliable certification for our customers.
    Kerry
    EMEA