ATA Carnets Cultivate Expansion and Growth

Expansion and growth are possible when ATA Carnets are used as flexible international trade tools, and for Matternet, Inc., a California-based company that develops unmanned aerial transportation systems, that has proven true.  At boomerang carnets® the customer is “king”, and we salute all our customers able to conduct business globally and grow with the use of ATA Carnets during a worldwide pandemic.  We have been in business for 30+ years and issue thousands of carnets yearly for temporary exportation of equipment and merchandise for clients that range from individuals to Fortune 100 corporations across all business, government, educational, and cultural sectors.

Right now, commercial opportunities for the small unmanned systems industry are likely more viable overseas than in the U.S. because of regulations in the U.S. that limit their potential in the commercial sector.  Matternet has taken full advantage of opportunities in overseas markets with the use of ATA Carnets where UMVs and innovative operating systems are in demand.   

The ATA Carnet is an internationally accepted customs document for temporarily exported merchandise, goods, or professional equipment.  It allows cross border movement of goods import-duty and -tax free into 87+ carnet countries and territories for up to a year.  The ATA Carnet is known as “The Merchandise Passport” or “Passport for Goods”.  It can serve as the Certificate of Registration (CBP 4455) allowing goods re-entry into the U.S. duty free.  Matternet cultivated business relationships with ATA Carnets and used them to ship their innovative drones and delivery platforms overseas, mostly to Switzerland. 

Matternet created new international customers with ATA Carnets by using them to “demo” and test their highly innovative and unique drone delivery platform.  By using ATA Carnets, Matternet avoided payment of import-duty and -tax which can make ventures into new international markets unfeasible.  As a result, today in Switzerland their drones are used for transporting samples between hospitals, labs, and universities. 

They used ATA Carnets and saved over $100K in duty and taxes over a three-year period!

They recently won a 2020 Silicon Valley Robotics Industry Award for Commercialization that is awarded in recognition of outstanding technology and business strategy for the successful application of robotics that have earned more than $1 million USD.   

Matternet has since expanded their operations in Germany at Labor Berlin hospital lab to initiate the first urban BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) medical drone delivery network in the largest city of the European Union with the potential to serve millions of patients each year.  They have also expanded to Asia through a drone delivery partnership with Japan Airlines. Their M2 drone system is to be deployed in Tokyo’s new “drone logistics project” and utilized to assess drone delivery opportunities in Japan.

Boomerang’s Carnet Specialists and Customer Service and Sales Reps provide expert customer service.  We are here to assist you 24/7, just call the Carnet Helpline® 1-800-ATA-2900 |1-800-282-2900 or email us.  Also, if you decide to ship your drones, equipment, goods, or merchandise by cargo, Boomerang has freight forwarder partners who can deliver your carnet, as well as handle your freight.

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