What the CTC Is
The Common Transit Convention (CTC) is an international treaty that allows goods to move under customs control between contracting parties on a single transit declaration — without paying duty or VAT until the goods reach their final destination.
Without the CTC, every border crossing would require a separate import or transit procedure. With it, a truck can leave a factory in one country and clear customs at a warehouse hundreds of miles away, in another customs territory entirely.
Who Is In the CTC
As of 2026 the contracting parties are:
- The European Union (treated as a single customs territory)
- EFTA states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland
- The United Kingdom
- Türkiye
- North Macedonia
- Serbia
- Ukraine
A movement can start in any contracting party, cross any others as offices of transit, and end in another contracting party. Russia, Belarus and most of the Western Balkans are not parties.
What the CTC Does
Three things matter in practice:
- One declaration covers the whole journey. Rather than lodging entries at every border, a single T1 or T2 covers all the legs.
- Duty and VAT are suspended. No money changes hands until the goods are cleared at destination.
- A single guarantee covers the risk. Your CGU works across all CTC territories.
Authorised Statuses That Speed Things Up
Inside the CTC there are simplifications that reduce friction further:
- Authorised Consignor. You can start transit movements at your own premises rather than presenting goods at an office of departure.
- Authorised Consignee. You can end movements at your warehouse — the goods do not have to be presented at an office of destination.
These authorisations require a clean compliance record and a proven set of internal controls, but they materially reduce delays and trips to the customs office.
A Worked Example
A Turkish manufacturer sells goods to a UK importer, via a Polish forwarder:
- The forwarder lodges a T1 in Türkiye for the UK destination.
- The truck crosses Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Germany as offices of transit. No new declarations are needed.
- The goods arrive at a UK Authorised Consignee warehouse. The movement is discharged.
- UK import customs clearance is then done at the same warehouse.
One transit declaration. One guarantee. Multiple borders. That is the value of the CTC — when it is set up and run correctly.