What is an A.TR movement certificate? How it differs from EUR.1

What is an A.TR movement certificate

An A.TR movement certificate is a status certificate showing that goods are in free circulation within the Türkiye–EU customs union. What it proves matters as much as what it does not: it does not show where the goods were produced, i.e. their origin.

When the certificate is presented, no customs duty or charges having equivalent effect are collected. This does not mean “no tax at all is paid”: the importer still makes a declaration for release into free circulation, VAT and, if applicable, excise duty (ÖTV) are collected; origin-based additional customs duty, anti-dumping duty and the agricultural component tax on processed agricultural products may also arise. A.TR is not a customs regime and does not replace the regime declaration; within that declaration it only ensures that customs duty is not collected.

Its legal basis is Decision No. 1/95 of the Türkiye–EC Association Council, together with Decision No. 1/2006 of the Customs Cooperation Committee, which sets out the implementing rules; provisions on issuance, endorsement, presentation period, retrospective issuance, duplicates and post-clearance verification derive from that decision. Domestic procedure is carried out under the relevant provisions of the Customs Regulation and the arrangements of the Ministry of Trade (Directorate General of Customs).

The certificate works in both directions. A shipment arriving from the EU without an A.TR means customs duty becomes payable in Türkiye; if the certificate is to be presented later, the duty may be secured by guarantee, and if the duty has been paid and the certificate is presented within the time limit, a refund can be requested. Either way this means extra processing and time; the supply contract should explicitly state that an A.TR is to be issued.

What free circulation means

Goods acquire free-circulation status in one of two ways:

• They have been wholly obtained or produced in Türkiye or in an EU member state.
• They originate in a third country, but the customs duties and charges having equivalent effect have been paid on their import into Türkiye or the EU, and the import formalities have been completed.

The second possibility is the source of most misunderstandings about A.TR. You import a Chinese-origin machine into Türkiye and pay the duty. The goods are now in free circulation. If you sell that same machine to Germany six months later, an A.TR can be issued. The machine’s origin is still China; A.TR only states that “these goods are in free circulation within the customs union area.”

Goods may pass in transit through third countries, but they must remain under customs supervision during that time and undergo no operation other than handling.

The most critical point: A.TR is not a certificate of origin

Treating A.TR as a certificate of origin is the most common and most costly mistake in this area. The consequences are concrete:

Anti-dumping duty looks at origin. If the EU applies anti-dumping duty on a Chinese-origin product, the liability does not disappear even if that product has entered free circulation in Türkiye and is shipped onward with an A.TR. A.TR zeroes out customs duty, not an origin-based measure.

The same logic applies to imports into Türkiye. Additional customs duty and origin-based trade policy measures look at origin. Import surveillance, as a rule, is based on a CIF unit-value threshold; safeguard measures, as a rule, apply without distinction of origin. For this reason, the customs administration may separately request a certificate of origin (menşe şahadetnamesi) for goods arriving with an A.TR.

The buyer may ask for proof of origin. Because of a public tender, a labelling rule, or its own customer’s requirement, a buyer may say “prove that this is of Turkish origin.” A.TR does not satisfy this; a certificate of origin, or EUR.1 for preferential origin, is required.

A.TR has no effect in third countries. If you are sending Turkish-origin products to a country with which Türkiye has a free trade agreement, the document required is EUR.1, EUR-MED, or an origin/invoice declaration, depending on the agreement; EUR-MED may be needed if Pan-Euro-Mediterranean diagonal cumulation is to be used. Which proof is valid must be confirmed from the text of the agreement.

The United Kingdom is outside this route. Since it left the EU customs union, A.TR is not valid for shipments to the United Kingdom; trade runs through a separate free trade agreement, and the proof of origin required by that agreement is needed for preference. Third-country-origin goods in free circulation in Türkiye can go to the EU duty-free with an A.TR, but cannot go to the United Kingdom preferentially.

What the customs union covers and does not cover

Within scope	Outside scope
Industrial products	Basic (unprocessed) agricultural products
The industrial component of processed agricultural products	ECSC (coal and steel) products — subject to a separate free trade agreement

The industrial component of processed agricultural products is subject to customs union rules, and an A.TR is issued for these products; a separate tax may be collected for the agricultural component. Coal and steel products are still referred to in the sector as “ECSC products,” but the ECSC Treaty ended in 2002; today’s basis is a separate free trade agreement. Basic agricultural products are also subject to separate arrangements; EUR.1 is used for preferential treatment in both groups.

The practical consequence is this: the certificate decision is made after the GTİP (Turkish HS/tariff code) is determined. If your product is outside the scope, effort spent obtaining an A.TR is wasted.

How an A.TR is issued, who approves it

• The form is obtained from the chamber. The certificate is issued on a printed form obtained from a chamber of commerce or industry. The original copy travels with the goods to the buyer and is presented to the destination customs office; the remaining copies are kept by the exporter and the approving authorities. The form fee and chamber approval fee are set according to the chamber’s tariff; the current amount should be confirmed with the chamber.
• The exporter issues it, the chamber approves it, customs endorses it. The exporter or their representative fills out the form and is responsible for the accuracy of the declaration; the chamber approves it, and the customs administration endorses it during export processing.
• Simplified procedure. Its name in the legislation is the “Authorization to Issue and Endorse A.TR Movement Certificates under the Simplified Procedure.” The authorization depends on preconditions such as authorized economic operator (YYS) status or approved-person status; the authorization holder issues the certificate with their own stamp, without chamber approval or customs endorsement. The exemption covers the approval and endorsement stage, not obtaining the form itself; the form is still obtained from the chamber. This authorization is separate from the “approved exporter” authorization used in the context of EUR.1 and invoice declarations. Conditions are set in the Customs Regulation and may change.
• Validity and expiry. The certificate must be presented to the destination country’s customs office within four months of its issue date. If the delay results from force majeure or an exceptional situation, or if the goods were presented to the destination customs office before the period expired, the certificate may still be accepted; this is not free discretion but a conditional acceptance.
• Retrospective issuance. If it could not be issued at the time of loading, the certificate can be issued bearing the phrase “Issued retrospectively.”
• Duplicate. In case of loss, theft or damage, a certificate marked “DUPLICATE” is obtained. The duplicate carries the original certificate’s issue date; the four-month period does not restart and continues to run from the original date.
• Post-clearance verification. The destination customs office may request verification by sending the certificate to the issuing authority; the goods may be secured by guarantee during this process.

Inward processing and compensatory levy

If you bring in inputs from a third country without paying duty under the inward processing regime, process them, and then export to the EU with an A.TR, the customs duty on the input does not disappear: since the goods will be imported duty-free into the EU, the duty on the third-country input is paid as a compensatory levy (TEV) at the export stage and calculated on the export declaration.

Two mistakes are common: pricing the product without the TEV, and assuming TEV is specific to EUR.1 only. If the input comes from a preferential-origin country and cumulation conditions are met, the calculation changes. Scope and exceptions are set by legislation; TEV must be worked out product by product before shipment.

The difference between A.TR and EUR.1

Subject	A.TR	EUR.1
What it proves	Free circulation status	Preferential origin
Does it show origin	No	Yes
Where it applies	Türkiye–EU customs union route	Countries with an FTA; products outside the customs union with the EU
Which products	Industrial products and the industrial component of processed agricultural products	Basic agricultural, coal-and-steel and FTA-covered products
Basic condition	Goods being in free circulation	Rules of origin being satisfied
Third-country-origin goods	Can be issued if duties have been paid	Cannot be issued if origin remains third-country; can be issued if origin has been acquired through sufficient working or cumulation
Advantage provided	No customs duty or charges having equivalent effect (VAT/excise, additional customs duty, anti-dumping still arise separately)	Preferential duty reduction or exemption
Post-verification risk	Free-circulation status is questioned	Duty is claimed retroactively if the rule of origin is not satisfied

Common mistakes and points of attention

• Treating A.TR as proof of origin. This mistake comes back as anti-dumping duty, additional customs duty and tender disqualification. A.TR proves free circulation; a certificate of origin proves origin.
• Deciding on the certificate before checking the GTİP. GTİP first, then the certificate decision.
• Issuing an A.TR for the United Kingdom. A.TR is not valid on this route; the proof of origin required by the agreement is needed.
• Forgetting the compensatory levy on inward-processing inputs. This item, invisible in the cost table, appears on the export declaration.
• Being unprepared for the buyer’s request for proof of origin. Clarify in writing at the contract and proforma stage which documents will be required; collecting a certificate of origin after the fact is difficult.
• Mixed shipments. If the same truck carries both in-scope and out-of-scope products, two separate certificates may be required.
• Missing the four-month presentation period. The clock runs while the certificate waits at the bank or in the courier chain. If the period expires, the certificate is accepted only if there is force majeure/an exceptional situation, or if the goods were presented to customs before the period expired.
• Sending the certificate after the goods. If the goods have arrived but the A.TR has not, clearance does not start; storage and demurrage charges begin running.
• Mismatch between the invoice, packing list and A.TR. The description of goods, number of packages and weight must match across all three documents; a mismatch is grounds for referral to a control lane.

A five-point pre-shipment checklist:

1. Has the GTİP been determined, and is the product within the customs union scope?
2. Are the goods in free circulation; if third-country-origin, have the import duties been paid?
3. Will the buyer or the destination customs office ask for additional proof of origin?
4. Is there an inward-processing input, and has the TEV been calculated?
5. Do the invoice, packing list and A.TR match; will the original copy reach the buyer before the goods?