T1 transit document and NCTS: Türkiye guide Until the transit closes, the guarantee stays tied up.

What common transit does

The Convention on a common transit procedure of 20 May 1987 governs transit between the EU and the other contracting parties, regardless of the kind and origin of the goods (art. 1/1). Transit means carrying goods under the control of the competent authorities from one contracting party to another, or to the same one, over at least one frontier (art. 3/1-a). Türkiye acceded through Law No. 6333 and has been a party since 1 December 2012. As the Turkish Ministry of Trade puts it, the point is that a transit declaration opened in one party, the guarantee given and the simplifications granted are valid in the other parties too; no new transit declaration is needed at each entry.

According to the European Commission's Transit Manual, the Convention has twelve contracting parties: the EU, Georgia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Türkiye, North Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Moldova and Montenegro. The most recent to join were Georgia (1 February 2025), and Moldova and Montenegro (1 November 2025).

Under Turkish law, the transit procedure applies to goods not released for free circulation and to goods whose export formalities have been completed (Customs Law No. 4458 art. 84/1). The procedure ends when the goods and documents are presented at the office of destination, and it is discharged once a comparison of the data at departure and destination shows it ended correctly (art. 84/4).

T1, T2, TR and the TIR Carnet

Why Turkish goods do not travel under T2

The Convention ties Union goods to the EU customs territory: goods wholly obtained in the EU, goods brought into the EU and released for free circulation, and goods produced in the EU from them (art. 2/3-a). Türkiye is not in that definition; it is a common transit country. In a common transit country, T2 applies only where the goods arrived in that country under T2 and are re-consigned on the conditions of art. 9 (art. 2/3-b). Those conditions: the goods stayed under customs control throughout, were not placed under any procedure other than transit or warehousing, and were not warehoused for more than five years, or six months for goods in Chapters 1–24 (art. 9; Transit Manual II.3.4).

The Transit Manual spells out the result (IV.1.5.4): for exports without a transit procedure, common transit countries cannot issue a T2 because there was no previous transit declaration; re-consignment is made under T1, and on re-entry into the EU the goods are treated as an import of non-Union goods unless they qualify as returned goods. Goods produced in Türkiye or released for free circulation there therefore travel to the EU under T1.

This does not take away customs union treatment; the two are separate questions. Decision No 1/2006 of the EC–Turkey Customs Cooperation Committee sets the A.TR movement certificate as the proof that the conditions of the free circulation provisions are met (art. 5–6). The A.TR is used where goods are transported directly; when they pass through a third country, they must stay under that country's customs surveillance (art. 6/2). In detail: A.TR or EUR.1.

In the other direction, the Manual says Union goods moving from the EU to a common transit country may also travel under T2 after the export procedure.

Guarantees: individual and comprehensive

The holder of the procedure provides a guarantee to secure the debt that may be incurred on the goods (Convention Appendix I art. 10/1; Customs Law art. 85/1). It takes two forms:

• Individual guarantee: covers a single transit operation; given as a cash deposit, a guarantor's undertaking or vouchers (Appendix I art. 11). The amount is calculated at the highest rates of duty for goods of the same type, and Union goods are treated as non-Union goods for this purpose (art. 18). A cash deposit is repaid when the procedure is discharged (art. 19/2).
• Comprehensive guarantee: covers several operations and requires an authorisation (Appendix I art. 10/2-b, 55/1-a). The office of guarantee sets a reference amount; where it lacks the information, it fixes 10,000 euros per operation (art. 74/2). For a holder who meets the conditions, the amount may be reduced to 50% or 30% of the reference amount, or waived (art. 75).

In Türkiye the comprehensive guarantee authorisation is granted by the Directorate General of Customs, and the guarantee is drawn down operation by operation. A simplification authorisation requires having moved goods under at least 500 transit declarations (TIR Carnets included) in the year before the application, or documents showing the obligations can be met (Customs Regulation art. 230/1-ç). Applications for a reduced comprehensive guarantee or a waiver are made for comprehensive guarantee letters of at least 2 million TL (Ministry FAQ).

Turkish law requires no guarantee for carriage by air, pipeline, sea or rail under the simplified procedure (Customs Law art. 85/1, Customs Regulation art. 222/1). The Convention's guarantee waivers are narrower (Appendix I art. 13). By road, both texts require a guarantee.

Offices of departure, transit and destination

• The office of departure is the customs office where the transit declaration is accepted (Appendix I art. 3-g). It sets the time-limit for presenting the goods at destination, taking the itinerary, the means of transport and the relevant legislation into account; that time-limit binds the other countries too (art. 34).
• An office of transit is the office at the point of entry into a contracting party's customs territory, or at the point of exit via a frontier with a third country (art. 3-h). The goods are presented at each office of transit with the MRN of the declaration, and the border passage is notified to the office of departure (art. 43). For a T1 from Türkiye into the EU via Bulgaria, the first office of transit is the Bulgarian office at EU entry; if the route crosses another party such as Serbia, each entry adds another office of transit.
• The office of destination is where the goods are presented to end the procedure (art. 3-i). Arrival is notified to the office of departure on the day the goods and the MRN are presented; control results follow by the third day at the latest, or the sixth day in exceptional cases (art. 47). The procedure may also end at an office other than the one declared (art. 45/5).

Once the declaration is accepted, no goods may be added, removed or substituted, including when the consignment is split up or transhipped (Convention art. 8). If the load is to be transhipped or partly unloaded on the way, plan it before the declaration is opened.

NCTS and Phase 5

NCTS (New Computerised Transit System) is the system in which every step, from lodging the transit declaration to discharging the procedure, is handled electronically; it went live in all contracting parties in 2005, and its use is mandatory for those who joined later (Ministry FAQ; Appendix I art. 4). The paper-based procedure applies only where the electronic procedure is not possible (Customs Regulation art. 212/2-ç).

In Türkiye the declaration is made in Turkish, by the holder of the procedure or through a direct or indirect representative (Customs Regulation art. 213/2). It is lodged through the BİLGE customs platform from any computer with an internet connection. An EORI number is needed for a transit declaration. The goods travel with the transit accompanying document printed from the NCTS declaration (Customs Regulation art. 214; Ministry FAQ).

Türkiye moved to NCTS Phase 5 on 17 November 2024. In Phase 5 the declaration has a hierarchical data structure; each piece of information is declared at the one of four levels it belongs to: declaration, master consignment, house consignment and house consignment goods item (Transit Manual I.4.1.2.3). Two rules that came with the NCTS upgrade: a declaration may be lodged before the goods are presented, but if they are not presented within 30 days it is deemed not to have been lodged (Appendix I art. 29a) and, under the Turkish Customs Regulation, is rejected by the office of departure (art. 213/3); and the reference amount of a comprehensive guarantee is monitored in the system for each operation (art. 74/6). The European Commission's Transit Manual of 31 July 2026 covers Phase 5 and Phase 6 together.

Safety and security data (the ENS) for entry into the EU is a separate obligation; the change for road and rail is on the 2026 customs and trade changes page.

When it goes wrong

The arrival notification does not come in time

Within 7 days after the time-limit for presentation expires, the country of departure opens an enquiry and asks the office of destination or the holder of the procedure for information; replies are due within 28 days. If the office of destination does not provide enough, the holder is asked at the latest 28 days, or 35 days after the NCTS upgrade, from the start of the enquiry, and must reply within 28 days (Appendix I art. 49). The holder may prove the procedure ended correctly with a document certified by customs at destination, as alternative proof (art. 51). For that purpose the office of destination endorses the transit accompanying document with the words "Alternative proof" and the code 99202 (art. 45/4).

The transit cannot be discharged

The country of departure establishes whether a debt has been incurred and identifies the debtor (art. 49/8). A debt arises when the goods are removed from the procedure or a condition of the procedure is not met (art. 112); the holder of the procedure is one of the debtors, and several debtors are jointly and severally liable (art. 113). If the place where the debt arose cannot be established within 7 months of the latest date for presenting the goods at destination, the debt is incurred in the country of the last office of transit that notified the border passage or, failing that, in the country of departure (art. 114/2). The guarantor receives two notifications: within 9 months of the presentation time-limit, that the procedure has not been discharged, and within 3 years of acceptance of the declaration, that it may have to pay. If either is not issued in time, the guarantor is released (art. 117). In Türkiye the principal is financially liable to customs for goods in transit (Customs Law art. 86/3).

A T2 is requested for Turkish goods

Goods in free circulation in Türkiye cannot be sent under T2 (Convention art. 2/3-b). For customs union treatment in the EU, an A.TR is obtained at export.

The truck misses the time-limit

If the holder or the carrier proves to the office of destination that the delay is not attributable to them, the time-limit is deemed to have been met (Appendix I art. 45/2). A carrier who accepts goods knowing they are moving under transit is also responsible for presenting them intact within the time-limit (art. 8/2; Customs Law art. 86/2).