Our sister company, Dynamic International, is a leading logistics provider to the media and film sectors. We understand the importance of having your equipment in place, on time.
The immediacy and quality of a successful shoot come from being able to concentrate on your task. To focus on the story, people, or locations, rather than being concerned with customs procedures, or delayed by them.
Whether you are carrying cameras, or filming equipment in hand luggage, or as freight, an ATA carnet allows you to pass through customs, without paying duties, or taxes.
Where this is for a project, film, or TV production spanning several countries, most ATA carnet member countries allow items to be transited from one to the other.
A carnet acts as a passport for your equipment and whilst you may at times have been able to carry items through without one, that will not always work. The alternative is having to pay out a percentage of each item’s value.
ATA Carnets also help to ensure speed of transit, rather than unexpected delay. Part of helping a shoot go to plan and bringing peace of mind to all involved.
Carnet Requirements
We can help with urgent, or same day carnets, although the best plan is to allow a little time to gather information. Our staff will assist as required to complete your application, so you have a faultless ATA carnet in your possession.
You will need to supply a list of your equipment, serial numbers, value, country of origin and the purpose items are to be used for. (We appreciate this tends to be obvious with cameras and filming equipment).
Wherever your destination and particularly if multiple countries are involved, checking for specific local requirements makes sense. Our staff will discuss your travel plans and help make sure all is in place.
They will also be there in the event anything goes wrong, such as losing an ATA carnet, or ending up with missing stamps. Neither will hopefully happen but if they do, having a helpline to your carnet supplier is useful.
Using An ATA Carnet
Your carnet will in most cases be valid for 12 months. If you make multiple trips during that time, you can just carry on using the same documentation.
Film, TV, or camera kit is often carried as baggage, bear in mind you need to visit customs before departing, to get checked through and your carnet stamped. Allow a bit of time on departure, as customs posts are not always located with departure in mind.
Similarly, on an arrivals leg, you will need to go through the customs channel, even if you wouldn’t otherwise. In both cases, this is often a formality yet an essential one to keep your carnet in order.
As long as your ATA carnet is correctly prepared, there tends to be little hassle in practice. Carnet use for cameras, or filming equipment is quite common amongst our clients and they rarely hit a problem.
The amount filming adds to our economy deserves to be better recognised through good support. If you require further information, or to proceed with obtaining a carnet, our support team are there to assist.