A TAD is used in international trade for goods moving through one or more countries without being cleared for import or export in those transit countries.
In most cases, the customs office at the starting point of the goods’ transit journey, issues the TAD. Alternatively, a consignor can be authorised to issue TADs themselves under specific conditions.
The TAD is based on the Common Transit Convention (CTC), an international treaty that governs the movement of goods under customs control. The CTC and any amendments are legally binding for member countries.
The New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) is an IT system that is mainly used for handling the common transit procedure (CTP) and the national transit procedure (NTP). The primary legal basis for the NCTS in the EU is Regulation (EC) No 2454/93, which lays out the rules and procedures for using the system.
As of 2023, the European Commission reported over 100 million NCTS declarations annually.
The standards specifying the TAD are primarily set by two international organisations:
The NCTS is used for all transit goods passing through transit on the way to the importing country/final destination in the EU.
In the EU, the NCTS is mandatory for intra-EU transit movements.
Outside the EU, there is a mix of eTAD and paper TAD usage depending on specific countries and regional agreements.
Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR) is based on an international agreement, not EU regulations, and is not part of Union or Common Transit.