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Policy & Compliance


UK moves towards introducing e-CMR


The UK government believes electronic consignment notes will benefit both it and industry through greater awareness of real-time movements and a reduction in administrative costs


It has been noticeable that numerous signatories to the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR), have been introducing legislation to facilitate adoption of the e-CMR. During July this year, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs presented parliament with its intention to accede to the e-CMR protocol. e-CMR is an electronic method of meeting the


requirements of the CMR, which the UK incorporated into domestic law with the Carriage of Goods by Road Act 1965.


Optional alternative The UK government believes an electronic consignment note, as an optional alternative to the paper CMR system at this stage, will benefit both it and industry through greater awareness of real-time movements and a reduction in administrative costs. It is believed that choosing paperless documentation will not only streamline operations generally, but also reduce friction at the border. e-CMR operates by utilising a secure digital


portal accessed via a software application, whereby authorised parties can access or share not only the standard contractual CMR waybill information but enhance the operation with


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BIFA holds Regional Member meetings around the UK and listed right are those due to occur soon. If you would like to attend and find out more about BIFA and what we do, then contact the appropriate Regional Consultant to BIFA. All BIFA Members are entitled and


encouraged to attend their regional meetings however pre-booking with the named contact is essential. Full contact details are shown on page 3 of


this issue. September 2019


access to status, record keeping and feedback data on a real-time basis. However, rather like Blockchain, to realise the full benefits of the system, software compatibility with other e-CMR platforms in the supply chain is important. e-CMR is not new, as the additional protocol


[MS No.26/2019] became part of the CMR Convention in 2008 and came into force in 2011 for accepting countries, but uptake has been slow. With the majority of parties being EU member states, the European parliament believes this slow adoption is because of the fragmented legal framework and non- interoperable IT systems. As such, the EU has proposed regulations seeking to establish a uniform legal framework and promote the use of intelligent transport systems (ITS) with electronic


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freight transport information (eFTI) platforms and service providers. The International Road Transport Union (IRU),


a supporter of e-CMR, reports that e-CMR’s first cross-border usage in January 2017 between Spain and France proves the system works and is simple to implement and use. Earlier this year, it was reported that the pilot project involving Transports FIOLET in France, International Road Ferry in the Netherlands and Brian Yeardley Continental in the UK, had been a success and proved e-CMR multinational cross-Channel logistics is achievable.


Increasing acceptance A recent increase in states accepting e-CMR is likely due to these pilot schemes, logistics companies starting to utilise e-CMR software and the EU’s proposals. An extra five states this year alone brings the number of parties to the CMR Convention having ratified or acceded the e-CMR protocol to 22 of 56. The UK intends to join them by depositing the instrument of accession to the UN in September 2019, after which it will take 90 days before e-CMR will be in force in the UK. Within the road environment we are seeing a


gradual trend towards the use of other electronic documentation such as e-Carnet and e-TIR. Ironically, at the same time as Brexit looms we are more likely to see an increased reliance on the use of Transit, which relies heavily on the production of a Transit Accompanying Document, which by implication is most likely to be paper based. It appears likely that by early 2020 UK hauliers


will have the freedom of adopting e-CMR, which it is anticipated will improve operational efficiency.


BIFA would like to thank Hill Dickinson for providing the information on which this article is based.


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