The Rhine manifest procedure was established to facilitate the movement of goods on the Rhine and its associated tributaries across national frontiers.
The legal bases for this procedure are the Mannheim Convention of 17 October 1868 and the Protocol adopted by the Central Rhine Navigation Commission on 22 November 1963.
The Union provisions which provide for the Rhine manifest to be used as a Union transit document are Articles 226(3)(d) and 227(2)(d) of the Union Customs Code.
The Mannheim Convention concerns the following countries bordering the Rhine :
- the Netherlands,
- Belgium,
- Germany,
- France and
- Switzerland
which for the purposes of the Convention are considered as forming a single territory.