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126-414: The ATA Carnet , often referred to as the "Passport for goods", is an international customs document that permits the tax-free and duty-free temporary export and import of nonperishable goods for up to one year. It consists of unified customs declaration forms which are prepared ready to use at every border crossing point. It is a globally accepted guarantee for customs duties and taxes which can replace

252-867: A customs area , often called a bonded store , until processed. Authorized ports are usually recognized customs areas. A more recent objective of customs has been trade facilitation , which is the streamlining of processing of import and export of goods to reduce trade transaction costs. The contemporary understanding of the “trade facilitation” concept is based on the Recommendation No. 4 of UN/CEFACT “National Trade Facilitation Bodies”. According to its provisions (para. 14), facilitation covers formalities, procedures, documents and operations related to international trade transactions. Its goals are simplification, harmonization and standardization, so that transactions become easier, faster and more economical than before. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in

378-515: A State of Emergency") and the labour unions . Demonstrations and protests grew in number, and in 1967 the student Benno Ohnesorg was shot in the head by a policeman. The press, especially the tabloid Bild-Zeitung newspaper, launched a campaign against the protesters. By 1968, a stronger desire to confront the Nazi past had come into being. In the 1970s environmentalism and anti-nationalism became fundamental values among left-wing Germans. As

504-563: A World ATA Carnet Council (WATAC) gathers the national guaranteeing organisations from all countries where the ATA Carnet is in force today. In short: Updated 1 September 2024 In the early 1960s, the ATA Carnet was in use in Ivory Coast , France , Yugoslavia , Switzerland and Czechoslovakia . In 1982 there were 36 countries. Today, the ATA Carnet guarantee scheme is officially in force in 81 countries and territories. Beside

630-442: A bid to mitigate corruption, many countries have partly privatised their customs. This has occurred by way of contracting pre-shipment inspection agencies, which examine the cargo and verify the declared value before importation occurs. The country's customs is obliged to accept the agency's report for the purpose of assessing duties and taxes at the port of entry. While engaging a pre-shipment inspection agency may appear justified in

756-541: A caretaker. However, he ruled for 14 years. The grand statesman of German postwar politics had to be dragged—almost literally—out of office in 1963. In October 1962 the weekly news magazine Der Spiegel published an analysis of the West German military defence. The conclusion was that there were several weaknesses in the system. Ten days after publication, the offices of Der Spiegel in Hamburg were raided by

882-562: A coalition would be far from a majority. Neither condition changed until 1998. Denazification was an Allied initiative to rid German politics, judiciary, society, culture, press and economy of Nazi ideology and personnel following the Second World War . It was carried out by removing those who had been Nazi Party or SS members from positions of power and influence, by disbanding the organizations associated with Nazism, and by trying prominent Nazis for war crimes . The program

1008-437: A commercial sample triptyque without the deposit of import duties. The guarantees for the import duties are given by an Austrian insurance company for imports into Austria, and by a Swiss company for the imports into Switzerland. The application of this system was limited to collections of samples on which the customs duties would not exceed 60,000 Austrian schillings or 10,000 Swiss Francs . The period allowed for re-exportation

1134-524: A country identifier, extending the postal code and as the Internet's country code top-level domain .de . The less widely used ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code of West Germany was DEU, which has remained the country code of reunified Germany. The now deleted codes for East Germany, on the other hand, were DD in ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and DDR in ISO 3166-1 alpha-3. The colloquial term West Germany or its equivalent

1260-441: A country with an inexperienced or inadequate customs establishment, the measure has not been able to plug the loophole and protect revenue. It has been found that evasion of customs duty escalated when pre-shipment agencies took over. It has also been alleged that involvement of such agencies has caused shipping delays. Privatization of customs has been viewed as a fatal remedy. In many countries, import and export data are issued on

1386-465: A country. Those who breach the law will be detained by customs and likely returned to their original location. The movement of people into and out of a country is normally monitored by migration authorities, under a variety of names and arrangements. Border control authorities normally check for appropriate documentation, verify that a person is entitled to enter the country, apprehend people wanted by domestic or international arrest warrants , and deny

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1512-1244: A given Convention or Annex, the according type of goods will be accepted by some countries under their national law. China , for example, while not having signed Annex B6 regarding sporting equipment, will nonetheless accept temporary importation for these goods under its national laws. Due to bilateral, multilateral or subnational customs agreements, the following cases are possible: [REDACTED]   Namibia [REDACTED]   Eswatini [REDACTED]   Belgium [REDACTED]   Bulgaria [REDACTED]   Croatia [REDACTED]   Cyprus [REDACTED]   Czech Republic [REDACTED]   Denmark [REDACTED]   Estonia [REDACTED]   Finland [REDACTED]   France ∟ [REDACTED]   Monaco [REDACTED]   Germany [REDACTED]   Greece [REDACTED]   Hungary [REDACTED]   Ireland [REDACTED]   Italy [REDACTED]   Latvia [REDACTED]   Lithuania [REDACTED]   Luxembourg [REDACTED]   Malta [REDACTED]   Netherlands Customs Each country has its own laws and regulations for

1638-470: A higher degree of harmony and uniformity in the customs system of the Contracting Parties." – (Preamble of the A.T.A. Convention) Between 1950 and 1970, there was a proliferation in the number of international Conventions, Recommendations, Agreements and other instruments on temporary admission, creating confusion for the international business community and complicating the work of Customs. In

1764-634: A leading FDP official, became Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister. Schmidt, a strong supporter of the European Community (EC) and the Atlantic alliance, emphasized his commitment to "the political unification of Europe in partnership with the USA". Mounting external problems forced Schmidt to concentrate on foreign policy and limited the domestic reforms that he could carry out. The USSR upgraded its intermediate-range missiles, which Schmidt complained

1890-872: A major role in drafting the antisemitic Nuremberg Race Laws in Nazi Germany. In 1957, 77% of the West German Ministry of Justice 's senior officials were former Nazi Party members. In West Germany, most of the political agencies and buildings were located in Bonn, while the German Stock Market was located in Frankfurt which became the economic center. The judicial branch of both the German Federal Constitutional Court ( Bundesverfassungsgericht ) and

2016-781: A member of the subsequently founded Warsaw Pact . The former capital, Berlin , had been divided into four sectors, with the Western Allies joining their sectors to form West Berlin , while the Soviets held East Berlin . West Berlin was completely surrounded by East German territory and had suffered a Soviet blockade in 1948–49, which was overcome by the Berlin airlift . The outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 led to U.S. calls to rearm West Germany to help defend Western Europe from

2142-624: A member. Following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc , symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall , both states took action to achieve German reunification . East Germany voted to dissolve and accede to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990. The five post-war states ( Länder ) were reconstituted, along with the reunited Berlin , which ended its special status and formed an additional Land . They formally joined

2268-769: A memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising crushed by the Germans, Brandt unexpectedly knelt and meditated in silence, a moment remembered as the Kniefall von Warschau . Brandt resigned as chancellor in 1974, after Günter Guillaume , one of his closest aides, was exposed as an agent of the Stasi , the East German secret service . Finance Minister Helmut Schmidt (SPD) formed a coalition and he served as Chancellor from 1974 to 1982. Hans-Dietrich Genscher ,

2394-586: A new generation of teachers, educated with the findings of historical studies, could begin to reveal the truth about the war and the crimes committed in the name of the German people, one courageous attorney, Fritz Bauer patiently gathered evidence on the guards of the Auschwitz concentration camp and about twenty were put on trial in Frankfurt in 1963. Daily newspaper reports and visits by school classes to

2520-803: A package arrive prior to registration the package must pay the 60% tax and no less than US$ 10. Any personal package worth more than US$ 200 or after the 3 free packages, must pay a 60% tax. This severely limits the public's ability to buy products online. Due to Uruguay's small population and market, many popular and specialty products are unavailable in the regular marketplace, forcing Uruguayans to strategically pool several purchases together and max each one of their free slots. Customs may be very strict. Goods valued up to US$ 500 brought in by plane and up to US$ 300 by sea or land are free of duties and taxes, cellphones and laptop computers are duty free regardless of their value only one per passenger, clothing and other personal use items are free of taxes. Above those values, tax

2646-613: A red point phone which serves the same purpose. The basic customs law is harmonized across Europe within the European Union Customs Union . This includes customs duties and restrictions. Customs tax typically applies from €22 to €150. For more information, see regulations of each member state. For customs declarations in the EU and in Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, the " Single Administrative Document " (SAD)

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2772-622: A result, in 1979 the Greens were able to reach the 5% minimum required to obtain parliamentary seats in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen state election, and with the foundation of the national party in 1980 developed into one of the most politically successful green movements in the world. Another result of the unrest in the 1960s was the founding of the Red Army Faction (RAF). The RAF was active from 1968, carrying out

2898-633: A sovereign state" on 5 May 1955 (although "full sovereignty" was not obtained until the Two Plus Four Agreement in 1990). The former occupying Western troops remained on the ground, now as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which West Germany joined on 9 May 1955, promising to rearm itself soon. West Germany became a focus of the Cold War with its juxtaposition to East Germany ,

3024-458: A special performance. Supporters of the Shah (later known as Jubelperser ), armed with staves and bricks attacked the protesters while the police stood by and watched. A demonstration in the centre was being forcibly dispersed when a bystander named Benno Ohnesorg was shot in the head and killed by a plainclothes policeman. (It has now been established that the policeman, Kurras, was a paid spy of

3150-602: A succession of terrorist attacks in West Germany during the 1970s. Even in the 1990s, attacks were still being committed under the name RAF . The last action took place in 1993, and in 1998 the group announced it was ceasing activities. In the 1969 election, the SPD gained enough votes to form a coalition government with the FDP. SPD leader and Chancellor Willy Brandt remained head of government until May 1974, when he resigned after

3276-610: A transparent manner. Each year, at the end of January is celebrated the International Customs Day with a particular theme, as follows: West Germany in Europe  (dark grey) in Europe  (dark grey) West Germany is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It

3402-539: A whole despite the Soviets declaring the end of occupation of East Berlin unilaterally many decades before). The Two-plus-Four Agreement also saw the two parts of Germany confirm their post-war external boundaries as final and irreversible (including the 1945 transfer of former German lands east of the Oder–Neisse line ), and the Allied Powers confirmed their consent to German Reunification. From 3 October 1990, after

3528-767: Is 50% of the value of all acquired goods summed up. Main article: Directorate General of Customs and Excise Direktorat Jenderal Bea dan Cukai (abbreviated Bea Cukai or DJBC), works under the Ministry of Finance (Indonesia) and performs various duties relating to the traffic of goods entering or leaving the Customs Area such as the collection of import/export duties, monitoring prohibition and restriction of certain goods, collecting excise and other state levies based on legislation apply. DJBC envisions itself as "The leading customs and excise institution globally" and has three missions: International Customs Day recognizes

3654-544: Is a point of no return, once a passenger has entered a particular channel, they cannot go back. Australia , Canada , New Zealand , and the United States do not officially operate a red and green channel system; however, some airports have adopted this layout. Airports in EU countries also have a blue channel. As the EU is a customs union , travellers between EU countries do not have to pay customs duties. Value-added tax (VAT) and excise duties may be applicable if

3780-620: Is jointly administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) through its World Chambers Federation. Early suggestions for an international temporary admission scheme were made during the 1900 and 1913 Congresses on Customs regulations, which were examined by Customs experts convened in 1923 under the auspices of the League of Nations but no positive result

3906-879: Is levied at the time of import and is paid by the importer of record . Individuals arriving in the United States may be exempt from duty on a limited amount of purchases, and on goods temporarily imported (such as laptop computers) under the ATA Carnet system. Customs duties vary by country of origin and product, with duties ranging from zero to 81% of the value of the goods. Goods from many countries are exempt from duty under various trade agreements. Certain types of goods are exempt from duty regardless of source. Customs rules differ from other import restrictions. Failure to comply with customs rules can result in seizure of goods and civil and criminal penalties against involved parties. The CBP enforces customs rules. All goods entering

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4032-608: Is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic (German: Bonner Republik ) after its capital city of Bonn . During the Cold War , the western portion of Germany and the associated territory of West Berlin were parts of the Western Bloc . West Germany was formed as a political entity during the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II , established from 12 states formed in the three Allied zones of occupation held by

4158-528: Is used as a basis. Up to €22, there are no taxes. From €22 up to €150, it is necessary to pay VAT (EUSt in Germany), which is 7% or 19% depending on the goods. From €150 it is necessary to pay VAT and customs. Customs may be very strict, especially for goods shipped from anywhere outside the EU. Up to €10 goods/package. Customs in Italy takes additional 22% VAT (Value-added tax) for goods imported from outside

4284-633: The Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR; German Democratic Republic; commonly known as East Germany). Reunification was achieved by accession ( Beitritt ) of the German Democratic Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany, so Bundesrepublik Deutschland became the official name of reunified Germany. In East Germany, the terms Westdeutschland (West Germany) or westdeutsche Bundesrepublik (West German Federal Republic) were preferred during

4410-530: The Belgium–Luxembourg Economic Union ) ∟ [REDACTED]   Monaco ∟ [REDACTED]   Botswana ∟ [REDACTED]   Namibia ∟ [REDACTED]   Eswatini [REDACTED]   Lesotho (includes BLNS Countries based on Southern African Customs Union ) ∟ [REDACTED]   Liechtenstein The table below is a list of countries which have signed

4536-633: The Guillaume affair , in which a senior member of his staff was uncovered as a spy for the East German intelligence service, the Stasi . However, the affair is widely considered to have been merely a trigger for Brandt's resignation, not a fundamental cause. Instead, Brandt, dogged by scandal relating to alcohol and depression as well as the economic fallout of the 1973 oil crisis , almost seems simply to have had enough. As Brandt himself later said, "I

4662-754: The ICC World Chambers Federation – administers the operation of the ATA Carnet System. The role of a national guaranteeing associations is to guarantee to its Customs administration the payment of duties and taxes due when ATA Carnets have been misused on its territory (non-or late re-exportation of goods, for instance). The national guaranteeing organisation can also, with the prior consent of its Customs administration, authorise local chambers to deliver ATA Carnets on its behalf. In major trading nations, dozens of local chambers have that authority. Within ICC World Chambers Federation,

4788-457: The International Chamber of Commerce has been studying the possibility to digitize the ATA Carnet. A pilot project to test the digital ATA Carnet is currently undergoing. The first ever transaction on a digital carnet was processed on 20 October 2019 at Zurich Airport , Switzerland . In every country in the ATA Chain, a guaranteeing association (NGA) – approved by its respective Customs and

4914-727: The International Chamber of Commerce . This Convention, which came into effect in November 1955, was based on the draft originally developed by the League of Nations in 1935. During the meetings of the Sixth Session Working Party, which prepared the text of the convention, and following a proposal by the French delegation, some consideration was given to the possibility of introducing a system of triptyques or carnets for samples of value carried by commercial travellers. It

5040-650: The London and Paris Conferences , the Brussels Treaty was modified to include West Germany, and to form the Western European Union (WEU). West Germany was to be permitted to rearm (an idea many Germans rejected), and have full sovereign control of its military, called the Bundeswehr . The WEU, however, would regulate the size of the armed forces permitted to each of its member states. Also,

5166-486: The Red Brigades ( Brigate Rosse ), many students went to work in the factories, but with little or no success. The most notorious of the underground groups was the Red Army Faction which began by making bank raids to finance their activities and eventually went underground having killed a number of policemen, several bystanders and eventually two prominent West Germans, whom they had taken captive in order to force

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5292-635: The Republic of Baden , which had derived ultimately from former independent German kingdoms and principalities. In the dominant post-war narrative of West Germany, the Nazi regime was characterised as having been a 'criminal' state, illegal and illegitimate from the outset; while the Weimar Republic was characterised as having been a 'failed' state, whose inherent institutional and constitutional flaws had been exploited by Hitler in his illegal seizure of dictatorial powers. Consequently, following

5418-609: The Saarland joined West Germany as a state in 1957 after it had been separated as the Saar Protectorate from Allied-occupied Germany by France (the separation had been not legal as it had not been recognized by the Allied Control Council ). In addition to the resulting ten states, West Berlin was considered an unofficial de facto eleventh state. While de jure not part of West Germany, for Berlin

5544-616: The State Customs Service . The reform attempt seeks to digitize customs procedures, get market-level wages, innovate customs checkpoints, integrate into EU customs community, open reference database of customs inspections. In 2003, Canada replaced the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency with the current Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). The CBSA performs searches at Canadian ports of entry and detains illegal immigrants, along with preventing contraband from entering

5670-522: The United States has become the cardinal factor in prompting a significant strengthening of the security component of modern customs operations, after which security-oriented control measures for supply chains have been widely implemented for the aims of preventing risk identification. At airports today, customs functions as the point of no return for all passengers; once passengers have cleared customs, they cannot go back. Anyone arriving at an airport must also clear customs before they can officially enter

5796-530: The "Two-plus-Four Agreement"); by which transitional status of Germany following World War II was definitively ended and the Four Allied powers relinquished their joint residual sovereign authority for Germany as a whole including the area of West Berlin which had officially remained under Allied occupation for the purposes of international and GDR law (a status that the Western countries applied to Berlin as

5922-686: The 'overall' German state that was held to have embodied the unified German people since the Frankfurt Parliament of 1848, and which from 1871 had been represented within the German Reich ; albeit that this overall state had become effectively dormant long before 8 May 1945. In 1949 with the continuation and aggravation of the Cold War (for example, the Berlin Airlift of 1948–49), the two German states that had originated in

6048-499: The 1950s and 1960s. This changed under its constitutional amendment in 1974, when the idea of a single German nation was abandoned by East Germany. As a result, it officially considered West Germans and West Berliners as foreigners. The initialism BRD (FRG in English) began to prevail in East German usage in the early 1970s, beginning in the newspaper Neues Deutschland . Other Eastern Bloc nations soon followed suit. In 1965,

6174-770: The 27 member states of the European Union and member states of the European Free Trade Association , the ATA Carnet is officially in force in Albania , Algeria , Andorra , Australia , Bahrain , Belarus , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Canada , Chile , China , Côte d'Ivoire , Hong Kong (China) , Iceland , India , Indonesia , Iran , Israel , Japan , Kazakhstan , South Korea , Lebanon , Macau (China) , Macedonia , Madagascar , Malaysia , Mauritius , Mexico , Moldova , Mongolia , Montenegro , Morocco , New Zealand , Pakistan , Peru ,

6300-427: The ATA Carnet for the Temporary Admission of Goods (ATA Convention) which then entered into force on 30 July 1963. ATA Carnets are seen as upgraded version of ECS Carnets, which are no longer limited to commercial samples. More specific conventions for each type of applicable good were subsequently worked out and agreed on by the CCC . At its 47th / 48th Sessions (June 1976), the Council recommended Contracting Parties to

6426-428: The ATA Convention and/or the Istanbul Convention. The type of goods accepted depends on the eventual Conventions and Annexes they have signed. Some countries have signed either the ATA Convention or the Istanbul Convention but have yet to have a National Guaranteeing Association appointed and member of the ICC ATA Carnet Guarantee Chain to start officially issuing ATA Carnets. Also in some cases, despite not having signed

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6552-423: The Allies stationed troops within West Germany for NATO defense, pursuant to stationing and status-of-forces agreements. With the exception of 55,000 French troops, Allied forces were under NATO's joint defense command. (France withdrew from the collective military command structure of NATO in 1966.) Konrad Adenauer was 73 years old when he became chancellor in 1949, and for this reason he was initially reckoned as

6678-433: The Atlantic alliance, emphasized his commitment to "the political unification of Europe in partnership with the USA". The goals of SPD and FDP however drifted apart in the late 1970s and early 1980s. On 1 October 1982 the FDP joined forces with the CDU/CSU to elect CDU Chairman Helmut Kohl as Chancellor in a constructive vote of no confidence . Following national elections in March 1983, Kohl emerged in firm control of both

6804-464: The Auschwitz trial reverberated decades later. The calling in question of the actions and policies of government led to a new climate of debate. The issues of emancipation, colonialism, environmentalism and grass roots democracy were discussed at all levels of society. In 1979 the environmental party, the Greens, reached the 5% limit required to obtain parliamentary seats in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen provincial election. Also of great significance

6930-437: The Austrian Government informed the Executive Secretary of GATT that on 1 February 1954 the scheme for the duty-free admission of commercial travellers' samples was put into effect by the Customs Administrations of Austria and Switzerland. In accordance with this agreement commercial travellers and agents were permitted to import commercial samples from Switzerland into Austria, and conversely, temporarily duty-free under cover of

7056-532: The Customs Convention Regarding the E.C.S. Carnets for Commercial Samples to denounce it as it duplicates the ATA Convention. To date, 21 countries have deposited their instruments of denunciation of the ECS Convention which, as a result, now has only one Contracting Party ( Haiti ). "The States signatory to this Convention, convinced that the adoption of common procedures for the temporary duty-free importation of goods would afford considerable advantages to international commercial and cultural activities and would secure

7182-447: The Customs Convention Regarding the E.C.S. Carnets for Commercial Samples which entered into force on 3 October 1957. The new Convention introduced the E.C.S. Carnet, a substitution on an optional basis for the usual national temporary importation papers which replaced any deposit or guarantee for suspended import duties and charges if such a guarantee was required by the customs authorities in a particular case. The initials E.C.S. stand for

7308-493: The EDC while maintaining independent control of their own armed forces. Though the EDC treaty was signed (May 1952), it never entered into force. France's Gaullists rejected it on the grounds that it threatened national sovereignty, and when the French National Assembly refused to ratify it (August 1954), the treaty died. The French Gaullists and communists had killed the French government's proposal. Then other means had to be found to allow West German rearmament. In response, at

7434-479: The East German security forces.) Protest demonstrations continued, and calls for more active opposition by some groups of students were made, which was declared by the press, especially the tabloid Bild -Zeitung newspaper, as a massive disruption to life in Berlin, in a massive campaign against the protesters. Protests against the US intervention in Vietnam , mingled with anger over the vigour with which demonstrations were repressed led to mounting militance among

7560-446: The European Union even if the VAT is already paid to the origin country sender. Up to €22, there are no taxes. From €22 up to €150, it is necessary to pay VAT (DPH in Czech/Slovak), which is 21%. From €150, it is necessary to pay VAT and customs. Customs may range from zero to 10% depending on the type of imported goods. Ukraine has had 5 reforms of its customs authorities. The recent one, in 2019, reorganized State Fiscal Service into

7686-410: The Executive Secretary of GATT that the "satisfactory results obtained by the use of E.C.S. carnets for the temporary importation of commercial samples (in 1960, 15,600 ECS carnets were issued, for a total value of US$ 16,320,000) has induced the international trading community to propose that the facilities offered by the ECS Carnet Convention should be extended over the widest possible field." This idea

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7812-440: The Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, raising the number of states from 10 to 16, ending the division of Germany. The expanded Federal Republic retained West Germany's political culture and continued its existing memberships in international organisations, as well as its Western foreign policy alignment and affiliation to Western alliances like NATO and the European Union. The official German reunification ceremony on 3 October 1990

7938-447: The Federal Republic subject to the terms of the Unification Treaty between the two states; and then both West Germany and East Germany radically amended their respective constitutions in accordance with that Treaty's provisions. East Germany then dissolved itself, and its five post-war states ( Länder ) were reconstituted, along with the reunited Berlin which ended its special status and formed an additional Land . They formally joined

8064-440: The Free Democratic Party (FDP) in order to lay the groundwork for an eventual return to power. Although this effort was exposed and disrupted, many former Nazis still attained positions of power and influence in the political system. West German President (1974–1979) Walter Scheel and Chancellor (1966–1969) Kurt Georg Kiesinger were both former members of the Nazi Party. Konrad Adenauer's State Secretary Hans Globke had played

8190-494: The German Democratic Republic. The expanded Federal Republic retained West Germany's political culture and continued its existing memberships in international organisations, as well as its Western foreign policy alignment and affiliation to Western alliances such as the United Nations, NATO, OECD , and the European Economic Community . Before reunification, Germany was divided between the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany; commonly known as West Germany) and

8316-402: The German constitution prohibited any military action, except in the case of an external attack against Germany or its allies ( Bündnisfall ). Also, Germans could reject military service on grounds of conscience, and serve for civil purposes instead. The three Western Allies retained occupation powers in Berlin and certain responsibilities for Germany as a whole. Under the new arrangements,

8442-575: The Philippines , Russia , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , Senegal , Serbia , Singapore , South Africa , Sri Lanka , Thailand , Tunisia , Turkey , Ukraine , United Arab Emirates , United Kingdom , the United States of America and Vietnam . Brazil was a member country from 2016 up until 31 December 2021 when its NGA stepped down and no replacement was appointed. The following is a list of countries and their relative National Guaranteeing Associations. These countries officially issue ATA Carnets. (Both countries are covered by one single NGA as part of

8568-421: The Schengen Area member states of the EU and the remainder of EU member states, while flights which cross the border of neither the customs union nor the Schengen Area are in practice treated as domestic, and therefore, the people travelling on them do not go through customs channels at all. All airports in the United Kingdom operate a channel system; however, some airports do not have a red channel, instead having

8694-404: The State Counsel Siegfried Buback . In October 1969 Willy Brandt became chancellor. He maintained West Germany's close alignment with the United States and focused on strengthening European integration in western Europe, while launching the new policy of Ostpolitik aimed at improving relations with Eastern Europe. Brandt was controversial on both the right wing, for his Ostpolitik , and on

8820-483: The United States are subject to inspection by CBP prior to legal entry. Uruguayan Customs place a cap on the importation of personal packages to up to 3 packages of a nominal value of no more than US$ 200 which can be entered into the country without extra charge. For a package to be included in the 3 free slots, the addressee must register the package with the Uruguayan Postal Service linking the tracking code, their address, national ID number phone and email address. Should

8946-462: The United States, the United Kingdom, and France. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided between the Western and Eastern blocs . Germany was divided into the two countries. Initially, West Germany claimed an exclusive mandate for all of Germany, representing itself as the sole democratically reorganised continuation of the 1871–1945 German Reich . Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952, and

9072-603: The West German Federal Minister of All-German Affairs , Erich Mende , had issued the "Directives for the Appellation of Germany", recommending avoiding the initialism BRD. On 31 May 1974, the heads of West German federal and state governments recommended always using the full name in official publications. From then on, West German sources avoided the abbreviated form, with the exception of left-leaning organizations which embraced it. In November 1979,

9198-832: The Western Allied and the Soviet Zones respectively became known internationally as West Germany and East Germany. Commonly known in English as East Germany , the former Soviet occupation zone in Germany , eventually became the German Democratic Republic or GDR . In 1990 West Germany and East Germany jointly signed the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (also known as

9324-416: The basis of national laws (Transparency Laws / Freedom of Information Act ). There has, however, been some speed bumps when transitioning customs over from the public to private sector . Factors such as an incompetent private sector, government's reluctance to change the traditional roles of customs, neglecting priority-setting and lack of transparency in the transition process have slowed the rate at which

9450-457: The boundaries of Germany as at 31 December 1937 would be chosen as demarcating German national territory from German-occupied territory; all German annexations after 1937 were automatically null. Subsequently, and into the 1970s, the West German state was to maintain that these 1937 boundaries continued to be 'valid in international law', although the Allies had already agreed amongst themselves that

9576-635: The case of the territory of Kaliningrad) civil administration, their Polish and Soviet status to be confirmed at a final Peace Treaty. Following wartime commitments by the Allies to the governments-in-exile of Czechoslovakia and Poland, the Potsdam Protocols also agreed to the 'orderly and humane' transfer to Germany as a whole of the ethnic German populations in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Eight million German expellees and refugees eventually settled in West Germany. Between 1946 and 1949, three of

9702-518: The combined English and French words: Echantillons Commerciaux - Commercial Samples. The first countries to sign this convention were West Germany , Austria , Belgium , Denmark , France , United Kingdom , Ireland , Italy , Luxembourg , Norway , Netherlands , Portugal , Sweden , Switzerland and Turkey and the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs acted as the depositary of the convention. The Customs Co-operation Council informed

9828-607: The country. Every person arriving in the US is subject to inspection by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers for compliance with immigration, customs and agriculture regulations. This public service is administered on almost a million visitors who enter the US daily. Travelers are screened for a number of prohibited items including; gold, alcoholic beverages, firearms and soil. A wide range of penalties face those non-compliers. The United States imposes tariffs or " customs duties " on imports of goods, being 3% on average. The duty

9954-490: The court that they regarded their action as a legitimate act in what they described as the "struggle against imperialism". The student movement began to split into different factions, ranging from the unattached liberals to the Maoists and supporters of direct action in every form—the anarchists. Several groups set as their objective the aim of radicalising the industrial workers and taking an example from activities in Italy of

10080-555: The death of Hitler in 1945 and the subsequent capitulation of the German Armed Forces, the national political, judicial, administrative, and constitutional instruments of both Nazi Germany and the Weimar Republic were understood as entirely defunct, such that a new West Germany could be established in a condition of constitutional nullity. Nevertheless, the new West Germany asserted its fundamental continuity with

10206-617: The early 1990s the WCO decided to take draft a worldwide Convention on temporary admission to combine, into a single international instrument, 13 existing temporary admission agreements, namely: Hence, in order to simplify and harmonize temporary admission formalities provided in various Conventions, the Convention on Temporary Admission, i.e. Istanbul Convention, was adopted at WCO on 26 June 1990 and then entered into force on 27 November 1993. Its objectives and principles are: In recent years

10332-676: The entry into the Bundestag of the Greens , who received 5.6% of the vote. In January 1987 the Kohl–Genscher government was returned to office, but the FDP and the Greens gained at the expense of the larger parties. Kohl's CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, slipped from 48.8% of the vote in 1983 to 44.3%. The SPD fell to 37%; long-time SPD Chairman Brandt subsequently resigned in April 1987 and

10458-592: The entry of people deemed dangerous to the country. The most complete guidelines for customs security functions implementation is provided in the World Customs Organization Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade (SAFE), which has had five editions in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, and 2018, respectively. Customs is part of one of the three basic functions of a government, namely: administration; maintenance of law, order, and justice; and collection of revenue. However, in

10584-514: The federal government informed the Bundestag that the West German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF had agreed to refuse to use the initialism. The ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code of West Germany was DE (for Deutschland , Germany), which has remained the country code of Germany after reunification. ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are the most widely used country codes, and the DE code is notably used as

10710-401: The federal republic on 3 October 1990, raising the total number of states from ten to sixteen, and ending the division of Germany. The reunited Germany is the direct continuation of the state previously informally called West Germany and not a new state, as the process was essentially a voluntary act of accession: the Federal Republic of Germany was enlarged to include the additional six states of

10836-450: The goods are subsequently sold, but these are collected when the goods are sold, not at the border. Passengers arriving from other EU countries go through the blue channel, where they may still be subject to checks for prohibited or restricted goods. Luggage tickets for checked luggage travelling within the EU are green-edged so they may be identified. In the recent years usage of the blue channel has become limited mostly to flights between

10962-468: The government and the CDU. The CDU/CSU fell just short of an absolute majority, because of the entry into the Bundestag of the Greens, who received 5.6% of the vote. In January 1987 the Kohl–Genscher government was returned to office, but the FDP and the Greens gained at the expense of the larger parties. The Social Democrats concluded that not only were the Greens unlikely to form a coalition, but also that such

11088-457: The government, demanding the resignation of Franz Josef Strauss , Defence Minister, who had decidedly overstepped his competence during the crisis. Adenauer was still wounded by his brief run for president, and this episode damaged his reputation even further. He announced that he would step down in the fall of 1963. His successor was to be Ludwig Erhard. In the early 1960s, the rate of economic growth slowed down significantly. In 1962 growth rate

11214-492: The import and export of goods into and out of a country, enforced by their respective customs authorities; the import/export of some goods may be restricted or forbidden entirely. A wide range of penalties are faced by those who break these laws. The traditional function of customs has been the assessment and collection of customs duties , which is a tariff or tax on the importation or, at times, exportation of goods. Commercial goods not yet cleared through customs are held in

11340-497: The introduction of new emergency acts : the grand coalition gave the ruling parties the two-thirds majority of votes required for their ratification. These controversial acts allowed basic constitutional rights such as freedom of movement to be limited in case of a state of emergency. During the time leading up to the passing of the laws, there was fierce opposition to them, above all by the Free Democratic Party ,

11466-583: The larger cities, especially in West Berlin, where homosexuality had been widely accepted during the twenties in the Weimar Republic. Anger over the treatment of demonstrators following the death of Benno Ohnesorg and the attack on Rudi Dutschke, coupled with growing frustration over the lack of success in achieving their aims led to growing militance among students and their supporters. In May 1968, three young people set fire to two department stores in Frankfurt; they were brought to trial and made very clear to

11592-595: The left wing, for his support of American policies, including the Vietnam War , and right-wing authoritarian regimes. The Brandt Report became a recognised measure for describing the general North-South divide in world economics and politics between an affluent North and a poor South. Brandt was also known for his fierce anti-communist policies at the domestic level, culminating in the Radikalenerlass (Anti-Radical Decree) in 1972. In 1970, while visiting

11718-521: The most memorable sessions of parliament, the Bundestag concluded on 20 June 1991, with quite a slim majority, that both government and parliament should move to Berlin from Bonn . Political life in West Germany was remarkably stable and orderly. The Adenauer era (1949–63) was followed by a brief period under Ludwig Erhard (1963–66) who, in turn, was replaced by Kurt Georg Kiesinger (1966–69). All governments between 1949 and 1966 were formed by

11844-630: The occupation zones began to merge. First, the British and American zones were combined into the quasi-state of Bizonia . Soon afterwards, the French zone was included into Trizonia . Conversely, the Soviet zone became East Germany . At the same time, new federal states ( Länder ) were formed in the Allied zones; replacing the geography of pre-Nazi German states such as the Free State of Prussia and

11970-548: The perceived Soviet threat. Germany's partners in the European Coal and Steel Community proposed to establish a European Defence Community (EDC), with an integrated army, navy and air force, composed of the armed forces of its member states. The West German military would be subject to complete EDC control, but the other EDC member states ( Belgium , France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands ) would cooperate in

12096-443: The permitted customs limits and not carrying prohibited items) go through the green channel. However, entry into a particular channel constitutes a legal declaration, so if a passenger goes through a green channel and is found to be in possession of a prohibited item, or failure to declare such items the passenger can be subject to a fine, the item being seized, and in some cases result in an arrest and criminal prosecution. Each channel

12222-482: The police and quantities of documents were seized. Chancellor Adenauer proclaimed in the Bundestag that the article was tantamount to high treason and that the authors would be prosecuted. The editor/owner of the magazine, Rudolf Augstein spent some time in jail before the public outcry over the breaking of laws on freedom of the press became too loud to be ignored. The FDP members of Adenauer's cabinet resigned from

12348-643: The prime cause of the violence against students. Trucks carrying newspapers were set on fire and windows in office buildings broken. In the wakes of these demonstrations, in which the question of America's role in Vietnam began to play a bigger role, came a desire among the students to find out more about the role of the parent-generation in the Nazi era. The proceedings of the War Crimes Tribunal at Nuremberg had been widely publicised in Germany but until

12474-465: The proceedings revealed to the German public the nature of the concentration camp system and it became evident that the Shoah was of vastly greater dimensions than the German population had believed. (The term "Holocaust" for the systematic mass-murder of Jews first came into use in 1979, when a 1978 American mini-series with that name was shown on West German television.) The processes set in motion by

12600-432: The public to private transition has taken place. In most countries, customs procedures for arriving passengers at major international airports, ports and some road crossings are separated into red and green channels. Passengers with goods to declare (carrying goods above the permitted customs limits and/or carrying prohibited items) go through the red channel, while passengers with nothing to declare (carrying goods within

12726-585: The reformation of the GDR's Länder , the East German states and East Berlin joined the Federal Republic . With territories and frontiers that coincided largely with the ones of old Middle Ages East Francia and the 19th-century Napoleonic Confederation of the Rhine , the Federal Republic of Germany was founded on 23 May 1949 under the terms of the Bonn–Paris conventions , whereby it obtained "the full authority of

12852-404: The release of prisoners sympathetic to their ideas. In the 1990s attacks were still being committed under the name "RAF". The last action took place in 1993 and the group announced it was giving up its activities in 1998. Evidence that the groups had been infiltrated by German Intelligence undercover agents has since emerged, partly through the insistence of the son of one of their prominent victims,

12978-624: The rising West German student movement , a group calling itself Notstand der Demokratie ("Democracy in Crisis") and members of the Campaign against Nuclear Armament. A key event in the development of open democratic debate occurred in 1967, when the Shah of Iran , Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , visited West Berlin. Several thousand demonstrators gathered outside the Opera House where he was to attend

13104-425: The role of agencies and customs officials in maintaining border security around the world. It focuses on the workers and their working conditions as well as the challenges that some customs officers face in their job. Custom agencies hold employee appreciation events where custom officers are recognized for their work. Several agencies also hold events for the public where they explain their jobs and responsibilities in

13230-438: The ruling parties the two-thirds majority of votes required to see them in. These controversial acts allowed basic constitutional rights such as freedom of movement to be limited in case of a state of emergency . Leading up to the passing of the laws, there was fierce opposition to them, above all by the FDP, the rising German student movement , a group calling itself Notstand der Demokratie  [ de ] ("Democracy in

13356-413: The security deposit required by each customs authority. It can be used in multiple countries in multiple trips up to its one-year validity. The acronym ATA is a combination of French and English terms "Admission Temporaire/Temporary Admission". The ATA carnet is now the document most widely used by the business community for international operations involving temporary admission of goods. The ATA Carnet

13482-546: The students at the universities in Berlin. One of the most prominent campaigners was a young man from East Germany called Rudi Dutschke who also criticised the forms of capitalism that were to be seen in West Berlin. Just before Easter 1968, a young man tried to kill Dutschke as he bicycled to the student union, seriously injuring him. All over West Germany, thousands demonstrated against the Springer newspapers which were seen as

13608-468: The subsequent Potsdam Agreement , the four Allied Powers asserted joint sovereignty over "Germany as a whole", defined as the totality of the territory within the occupation zones. Former German areas east of the rivers Oder and Neisse and outside of 'Germany as a whole' were officially separated from German sovereignty in August 1945 and transferred from Soviet military occupation to Polish and Soviet (in

13734-612: The temporary admission of these items were in the course of preparation, it was recognised that it would be highly desirable that the Convention creating the new document should be ready for adoption by the council, at the same time as these Conventions; or as soon as possible thereafter. Hence, due to the ECS Carnet success, in 1961 the Customs Cooperation Council adopted the Customs Convention on

13860-684: The territories east of the Oder-Neisse line must be transferred to Poland and the Soviet Union in any peace agreement. The conference agreed that post-war Germany, minus these transfers, would be divided into four occupation zones : a French Zone in the far west; a British Zone in the northwest; an American Zone in the south; and a Soviet Zone in the East. Berlin was separately divided into four zones. These divisions were not intended to dismember Germany, only to designate zones of administration. By

13986-702: The united caucus of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), either alone or in coalition with the smaller Free Democratic Party (FDP) or other right-wing parties. Kiesinger's 1966–69 "Grand Coalition" was between West Germany's two largest parties, the CDU/CSU and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). This was important for the introduction of new emergency acts—the Grand Coalition gave

14112-529: The world's second-largest economy. The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer , who remained in office until 1963, worked for a full alignment with the NATO rather than neutrality, and secured membership in the military alliance. Adenauer was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present-day European Union . When the G6 was established in 1975, there was no serious debate as to whether West Germany would become

14238-409: Was 4.7% and the following year, 2.0%. After a brief recovery, the growth rate slowed again into a recession, with no growth in 1967. A new coalition was formed to deal with this problem. Erhard stepped down in 1966 and was succeeded by Kurt Georg Kiesinger . He led a grand coalition between West Germany's two largest parties, the CDU/CSU and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). This was important for

14364-585: Was achieved. In 1932, the League of Nations drafted a convention to promote uniform duty-free admission for samples, however, due to WWII , it was never implemented. In 1952, based on the recommendations already put forward in the ICCs ' report on "Invisible Barriers to Trade and Travel" from 1949, the contracting parties to GATT adopted an International Convention to Facilitate the Importation of Commercial Samples and Advertising Material proposed and drafted by

14490-399: Was an unacceptable threat to the balance of nuclear power, because it increased the likelihood of political coercion and required a western response. NATO responded in the form of its twin-track policy. The domestic reverberations were serious inside the SPD, and undermined its coalition with the FDP. One of his major successes, in collaboration with French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing ,

14616-525: Was exhausted, for reasons which had nothing to do with the process going on at the time". Finance Minister Helmut Schmidt (SPD) then formed a government, continuing the SPD–FDP coalition. He served as Chancellor from 1974 to 1982. Hans-Dietrich Genscher, a leading FDP official, was Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister in the same years. Schmidt, a strong supporter of the European Community (EC) and

14742-525: Was held at the Reichstag building , including Chancellor Helmut Kohl , President Richard von Weizsäcker , former Chancellor Willy Brandt and many others. One day later, the parliament of the united Germany would assemble in an act of symbolism in the Reichstag building. However, at that time, the role of Berlin had not yet been decided upon. Only after a fierce debate, considered by many as one of

14868-495: Was hugely unpopular in West Germany and was opposed by the new government of Konrad Adenauer. In 1951, several laws were passed granting amnesties and ending denazification. As a result, many people with a former Nazi past ended up again in the political apparatus of West Germany. Between 1951 and 1953, there was even an effort by a clandestine group of former Nazi functionaries, known as the Naumann Circle , to infiltrate

14994-786: Was one year. Thus, based on this convention, this triptyque scheme and allegedly following Charles Aubert's vision and initiative (director of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services of Geneva and future first director of the Chambres de Commerce Suisses), the Customs Co-operation Council with the cooperation of the International League of Commercial Travellers and Agents and of the ICC 's International Information Bureau of Chambers of Commerce prepared

15120-455: Was succeeded by Hans-Jochen Vogel . The FDP's share rose from 7% to 9.1%, its best showing since 1980. The Greens' share rose to 8.3% from their 1983 share of 5.6%. With the collapse of eastern bloc in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall , there was a rapid move towards German reunification ; and a final settlement of the post-war special status of Germany . Following democratic elections, East Germany declared its accession to

15246-441: Was suggested that such a system would alleviate the financial burdens and administrative formalities imposed upon firms sending representatives abroad. The Working Party was informed that a scheme for duty-free admission of commercial travellers' samples under cover of a customs triptyque had been worked out for operation on a bilateral basis between Austria and Switzerland though it had not yet been put into force. On 1 March 1954,

15372-587: Was supported by the International Chamber of Commerce . A preliminary enquiry on the usefulness of a customs document for temporary duty-free admission, carried out by the Customs Cooperation Council with the assistance of GATT , UNESCO and ICC showed general support for the preparation of a document on the lines of the ECS carnet, which could be used to facilitate, in particular, the temporary admission of professional equipment and of goods for display or use at exhibitions, fairs, etc. Since two Conventions concerning

15498-558: Was the launching of the European Monetary System (EMS) in April 1978. In October 1982 the SPD–FDP coalition fell apart when the FDP joined forces with the CDU/CSU to elect CDU Chairman Helmut Kohl as Chancellor in a constructive vote of no confidence . Following national elections in March 1983, Kohl emerged in firm control of both the government and the CDU. The CDU/CSU fell just short of an absolute majority, due to

15624-416: Was the steady growth of a feminist movement in which women demonstrated for equal rights. Until 1977, a married woman had to have the permission of her husband if she wanted to take on a job or open a bank account. Further reforms in 1979 to parental rights law gave equal legal rights to the mother and the father, abolishing the legal authority of the father. Parallel to this, a gay movement began to grow in

15750-422: Was under the control of the Allied Control Council (ACC), West Berlin politically aligned itself with West Germany and was directly or indirectly represented in its federal institutions. The foundation for the influential position held by Germany today was laid during the economic miracle of the 1950s ( Wirtschaftswunder ), when West Germany rose from the enormous destruction wrought by World War II to become

15876-732: Was used in many languages. Westdeutschland was also a widespread colloquial form used in German-speaking countries, usually without political overtones. On 4–11 February 1945 leaders from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union held the Yalta Conference where future arrangements regarding post-war Europe and Allied strategy against Japan in the Pacific were negotiated. They agreed that

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