text: Background Early suggestions for an international temporary admission scheme were made during the 1900 and 1913 Congresses on Customs regulations, which were examined by Customs experts convened in 1923 under the auspices of the League of Nations but no positive result was achieved. In 1952, based on the recommendations already put forward in the ICCs' report on "Invisible Barriers to Trade and Travel" from 1949, the contracting parties to GATT adopted an International Convention to Facilitate the Importation of Commercial Samples and Advertising Material proposed and drafted by the International Chamber of Commerce and which entered into force on 20 November 1955. During the meetings of the Seventh Session Working Party, which prepared the text of the convention, and following a proposal by the French delegation, some consideration was given to the possibility of introducing a system of triptyques or carnets for samples of value carried by commercial travellers. It was suggested that such a system would alleviate the financial burdens and administrative formalities imposed upon firms sending representatives abroad. The Working Party was informed that a scheme for duty-free admission of commercial travellers' samples under cover of a customs triptyque had been worked out for operation on a bilateral basis between Austria and Switzerland though it had not yet been put into force. On 1 March 1954, the Austrian Government informed the Executive Secretary of GATT that on 1 February 1954 the scheme for the duty-free admission of commercial travellers' samples was put into effect by the Customs Administrations of Austria and Switzerland. In accordance with this agreement commercial travellers and agents were permitted to import commercial samples from Switzerland into Austria, and conversely, temporarily duty-free under cover of a commercial sample triptyque without the deposit of import duties. The guarantees for the import duties are given by an Austrian insurance company for imports into Austria, and by a Swiss company for the imports into Switzerland. The application of this system was limited to collections of samples on which the customs duties would not exceed 60,000 Austrian schillings or 10,000 Swiss Francs. The period allowed for re-exportation was one year.