Dubai – Dubai Customs supports the International Road Transport (TIR Carnet) system, the global customs transit procedure that enables goods to move under customs control from a country of origin, through transit countries, to a country of destination in secure sealed load compartments via a multilateral, mutually recognised system backed by a UN convention. 

Goods shipped under cover of an internationally accepted customs transit document, the TIR carnet, do not require inspection at border crossings while in transit. The TIR carnet provides a financial guarantee for the payment of the suspended duties and taxes. The guarantee system is managed by the International Road Transport Union (IRU).

In 2014, Dubai Customs signed a guarantee agreement for the implementation of the TIR system with the Automobile and Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates (ATCUAE), the official authorized representative of the IRU as a TIR issuing and guaranteeing association for the UAE. The system was activated in the UAE in 2017, when the Federal Customs Authority was nominated as the competent authority to approve certificates of vehicles and containers for the transport of goods under the TIR procedure.

Dubai Customs cleared the first transit consignment under cover of TIR carnet in 2020. To date as many as 214 customs transactions have been processed under the TIR system, involving goods worth a total of AED 142.2 million.

Dubai Customs issued Customs Policy No. 52/2021 on the implementation of the TIR carnet system. This policy defines the customs centers that undertake the application of the system, including all centers affiliated to the Air Cargo Centers Department as well as the Land and Sea Customs Centers departments. The policy also laid down the TIR carnet terms and conditions and procedures regulating for the movement of goods under the carnet.

The usage of TIR is steadily growing across the UAE, the GCC and the wider Middle East region, as transport operators are increasingly seeing the benefits of the reduced transport times and lower costs brought by the system.

The activation of the TIR system promotes Dubai's foreign trade sustainable growth, enabling significant reductions in time and cost for trade operations that are carried out through this system. This coupled with the integrated customs services and facilities provided by Dubai Customs to all Dubai-based trade operators supports the realization of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33)’s ambitious goals towards boosting Dubai's trade in goods and services to AED25.6 trillion within the next decade.