When preparing a travel, you provide information about your planned movement of goods. If your itinerary changes afterwards, you do not always need to create a new travel.

Does the destination country have to match the actual country where Customs processes the transaction?

Not necessarily.

The destination selected during travel preparation is used to help prepare declarations and generate the appropriate transaction codes.

The validity of a transaction is determined primarily by:

• the type of transaction being processed; and
• the customs territory where Customs processes the transaction.

What if I selected the wrong destination country?

In many cases, the travel can still be used.

For example:

• a travel prepared for Norway may later be used for an Importation transaction in the United Kingdom;
• a travel prepared for one EU Member State may still be used in another EU Member State because they belong to the same customs territory for ATA Carnet purposes.

Whenever possible, you should update the travel before the first Customs transaction so that your itinerary information remains accurate.

What if my route changed after I prepared the travel?

A change of route does not automatically invalidate a prepared travel.

Examples include:

• travelling to a different destination country than originally planned;
• entering a customs territory through a different border crossing;
• changing the order of destinations.

The ATA Carnet System validates transactions according to the applicable customs territory and transaction type, not solely according to the destination entered during preparation.

When should I create a new travel?

You should normally create a new travel if:

• the original travel has already been used by Customs and has become read-only;
• the goods being declared have changed;
• Customs instructs you to prepare a new declaration;
• a correction requires a new declaration following a cancellation procedure.

Can I edit my travel after Customs has processed a transaction?

No.

Once Customs commits a transaction against a travel, the travel becomes read-only and can no longer be edited or deleted.

What should I do if I am unsure whether a new travel is required?

As a general rule:

• before any Customs transaction has been committed, update the existing travel whenever possible;
• after a Customs transaction has been committed, the travel can no longer be modified and a new declaration may be required.

Related articles

• I selected the wrong destination country when preparing my travel. Do I need to create a new travel? 
• My route changed after I prepared the travel. Can I still use it?
• What determines whether a transaction is valid?
• Should I update the travel if my destination changes?
• Why can I no longer edit my travel?
• Which transactions lock a travel? 
• What if I made a mistake in the itinerary or goods selection?