ATA Carnet for Robotics

Using your carnet at the border

A carnet only protects you if customs sees it at the right moments. For a simple round trip (Switzerland to one destination and back) there are six customs touchpoints. This page walks through each one, then covers transit, the digital carnet, and what to do when something goes wrong.

The six touchpoints

0. Activation ("Ingebrauchnahme"), before anything else

A fresh Swiss carnet must first be taken into use: a customs office certifies the green cover (box H). Only offices competent for commercial goods can do this, during their commercial-clearance hours. Two very useful facts:

1. Swiss export stamp (yellow)

When the goods leave Switzerland, customs completes the yellow exportation voucher, stamps the matching counterfoil, and keeps the voucher. The stamped counterfoil stays in your booklet; that's your proof. With a digital carnet, the same step is a QR-code scan.

At road borders there is no red/green lane for this. Drive to the commercial clearance counters, park, and bring the carnet (and goods, on request) inside. At airports, go to the customs office before check-in; see the Zurich, Geneva and Basel guides for exact locations.

2. Import stamp abroad (white)

On arrival, the destination country's customs processes the white importation voucher. For the EU this happens once, at your first point of entry. A stamp at the German motorway border or at Schiphol covers all 27 member states. Check box 2 of the import counterfoil: customs may set a re-export deadline shorter than your carnet's validity, and that date wins.

3. Re-export stamp abroad (white)

Leaving the destination country (for the EU: leaving the EU), get the white re-exportation voucher processed before the deadline. This is the stamp people forget, especially at airports when nobody stops them. Seek out the customs desk actively; an unstamped re-export is the number-one trigger for claims.

4. Swiss re-import stamp (yellow)

Coming home, present the carnet again for the yellow re-importation stamp. Helpfully, Swiss rules say a missing foreign stamp doesn't block your Swiss re-import clearance. One more reason to always secure the home stamps. This stamp is your last line of defence if a foreign administration later claims the goods never left.

5. Return the carnet to your chamber

After the last trip, at the latest on the expiry date, return the complete carnet to the issuing chamber, unprompted. The chamber checks the counterfoils, discharges the carnet and releases your security. Keep records (and expired paper carnets) for at least a year after expiry: foreign customs can file claims up to one year after the carnet expires.

Multiple trips and partial loads

One carnet covers unlimited trips within its year. You don't have to carry everything every time: items staying home are struck through on the back of that trip's vouchers only, never on the green cover's General List, which must remain untouched after activation. Each round trip consumes one set of yellow and white voucher pairs, so order enough sheets when applying.

Transit: driving through countries

The opening-hours trap (and how to dodge it)

Swiss customs offers two distinct carnet services with different hours:

ServiceWho can do itTypical hours
First use / activation of a new carnet Commercial-goods customs offices only Mon–Fri ~07:00–17:30, some Sat mornings
Stamping an opened carnet (export/re-import) Also border-guard posts Much longer: around the clock at major motorway crossings; daily 05:00/05:30–24:00 at Basel and Geneva airports

So: activate early, then travel almost whenever you like, as long as you pick the right crossings. The per-crossing details are in the road borders guide and the airport guides. Two hard limits:

The digital carnet at the border

For carnets issued from 1 June 2026 (Switzerland, EU, Norway, UK): prepare the declaration in the ICC ATA Carnet App before you reach the border, then show the QR code. The officer scans it and the transaction is recorded centrally. No wet stamps, no vouchers to lose. Where your itinerary includes a country outside the digital system, the chamber issues paper (or customs adds paper notations alongside the digital record on request). The first-ever digital carnet transaction worldwide was processed at the Basel/Weil am Rhein motorway crossing on launch day.

When something goes wrong

The essentials are below; for full scenario-by-scenario playbooks (lost carnet, urgent carnet, claim letters, closed border desks) see Fix a problem.

You missed a stamp

The goods didn't come back at all

The destination country assesses import duties and taxes plus up to a 10% penalty, claimed through the guarantee chain. Ultimately that lands on you, plus chamber handling fees (typically CHF 100–150 minimum). If the goods were sold abroad, clear them off the carnet properly instead - see the robotics guide.

Official Swiss fees (for context)

Pre-trip checklist

  1. Carnet activated (box H certified / app loaded), done in advance.
  2. Green cover signed; sheets counted (paper) or declaration prepared (app).
  3. Border crossing chosen from the carnet-capable list, hours checked in the official directory.
  4. At every border: actively seek the customs desk; verify the officer took the voucher and stamped the counterfoil.
  5. Calendar entries: foreign re-export deadline, carnet expiry, return to chamber.

Sources

Every factual claim on this page comes from the sources below, checked on the "last reviewed" date in the footer. Official resources are linked in whatever language they are published in.