Turkey’s Council of Ministers has now ratified a European convention to amend the Common Transit Procedure Convention (“Convention”). The recent decision ratifies decision number 1/2016 by the EU-EFTA Joint Committee on Common Transit dated 28 April 2016 into Turkish law, which generally aimed to modernize transit procedures and ensure smooth application of the Convention.
The Convention was signed between the European Economic Community countries, as well as Austria, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland in 1987.
Recent amendments to the Convention aim to ensure:
- Compliance with the European Union Parliament’s statutes and regulations, which introduced a modernized framework for customs procedures (including transit procedures).
- Compliance with European Union transit procedures to ensure smooth application of the Convention and enhance business between the Convention’s parties and the European Union.
- Clarify vague aspects of the Convention and update its terminology.
Please see this link for the full text of the ratified amendments to the Convention.