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The Customs Convention on Containers is a United Nations and
International Maritime Organization
The International Maritime Organization (IMO, French: ''Organisation maritime internationale'') is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating shipping. The IMO was established following agreement at a UN conference ...
treaty
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations
An international organization or international o ...
whereby states agree to allow
intermodal container
An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, is a large standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different Mode of transport, modes of trans ...
s to be temporarily brought into their states duty- and tax-free.
The original Convention was concluded in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
on 18 May 1956 and entered into force on 4 August 1959. On 2 December 1972, a new Convention was concluded with the provision that when it entered into force, it would replace the 1956 Convention for the parties that ratify it. The 1972 Convention entered into force on 6 December 1975. The 1956 Convention was ratified by 44 states; as of 2016, the 1972 Convention has been ratified by 40 states. The
International Container Bureau
The Bureau International des Containers et du Transport Intermodal (originally french: Bureau International des Conteneurs, still abbreviated BIC, en, International Container Bureau) oversees standards for intermodal containers, commonly referred ...
was instrumental in the creation of the revised 1972 Convention.
The Convention allows for shipping containers to be brought from a ratifying state into a ratifying state duty- and tax-free for a period of three months.
The Convention was concluded at the same conference that concluded the
Customs Convention on the Temporary Importation of Commercial Road Vehicles
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022
The Customs Convention on the Temporary Importation of Commercial Road Vehicles is a 1956 United Nations multilateral treaty. In states that adhere to the Convention, it allows commercial road vehicles—such as tax ...
CMR Convention
The CMR Convention (full title Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road) is a United Nations convention that was signed in Geneva on 19 May 1956. It relates to various legal issues concerning transportation of c ...
.
The Convention was somewhat superseded in 1990 by the
Istanbul Convention
The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, is a human rights treaty of the Council of Europe against violence against women and domestic v ...
, which combines in one single instrument the various conventions on the temporary admission of specific goods.