If foreign customs authorities have any doubt as to whether goods temporarily imported under an ATA Carnet have been re-exported within the validity period, they will contact their national guaranteeing organization (the national Chamber of Commerce), which will then send an inquiry to the Finland Chamber of Commerce.
The Finland Chamber of Commerce requests the relevant ATA Carnet from the regional Chamber of Commerce for inspection and replies to the foreign Chamber.
If the ATA Carnet has been used correctly, it will show that the goods have been returned to Finland. The Finland Chamber of Commerce sends a copy of the properly stamped counterfoil to the foreign Chamber of Commerce, which forwards it to the local customs authorities. Customs then accepts the evidence and, through their national Chamber of Commerce, confirm it to the Finland Chamber of Commerce.
However, if some counterfoils in the ATA Carnet remain unstamped and it appears that the goods have stayed in the temporary export country, the customs authorities of that country have the right to charge customs duties and other related fees. In such cases, the Finland Chamber of Commerce contacts the Carnet holder (often via local Chamber of Commerce) to clarify what happened to the goods exported under the ATA Carnet. For example, were they re-imported using other customs documents, or were they permanently imported into the foreign country?
If re-export of the goods cannot be proven, the foreign customs authorities will issue a customs invoice and send it to their national guaranteeing organization for payment. That organization pays the customs duties and charges them to the Finland Chamber of Commerce, which in turn invoices the ATA Carnet holder.
