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Country requirements

What an enforcement officer may ask for at the roadside differs per country. These pages come from the same rule register as GET /v1/requirements and POST /v1/shipments/validate, so what you read here is literally what the API answers.

The matrix

Section titled “The matrix”

Every country Cargofollow has assessed is below. A country that is not here gets the EU-wide rules and party: null for the e-CMR Protocol: that means “not assessed”, not “not a party”.

Country e-CMR Protocol Since Own rules
The Netherlands Party 2009-01-07 1
Belgium Not a party — 2
Germany Party 2022-01-05 2
France Party 2016-10-05 1
Poland Party 2019-06-13 1

EU-wide rules

Section titled “EU-wide rules”

These rules hang on what you carry and how, not on one country. They apply on every lane where their condition holds, so read them alongside the country page.

Level Rule Source
Required Dangerous goods: carry a transport document that states the UN number, the proper shipping name, the hazard class and the packing group for every substance (ADR 5.4.1, made binding by Directive 2008/68/EC). (eFTI EU5a) 1
Required Cabotage: the driver must carry evidence of the incoming international carriage and of every cabotage operation already performed (Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009, Article 8(3)). (eFTI EU3) 2
Required Combined transport: the transport document must name the loading and unloading stations or ports of the non-road leg and be stamped by the rail or port authority once that leg is completed (Directive 92/106/EEC, Article 3). (eFTI EU2) 3
Required Waste shipment: notify the shipment up front through DIWASS. Since 21 May 2026 the notification and consent procedure of Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 runs digitally. 4
For information Posting: on cabotage and cross-trade operations the driver counts as posted. File a posting declaration through the IMI public interface beforehand. Bilateral operations from or to the country of establishment are exempt (Directive (EU) 2020/1057, Article 1). 5
Recommended Not every country on this lane is a party to the 2008 e-CMR Protocol. Carry a paper CMR consignment note, so a roadside check can always be shown one. 6
For information eFTI: from 9 July 2027 enforcement authorities must accept freight information offered through a certified eFTI platform. Using eFTI stays voluntary for operators. 7
Recommended Signature: the e-CMR Protocol (Article 3) asks for a reliable electronic signature — uniquely linked to the signatory, capable of identifying them, under their control and with any change detectable. Those are exactly the criteria of an advanced signature (eIDAS, Article 26). Consider trust level ades on this lane. 8
For information eFTI platform: business users have to sign in with an eIDAS-compliant electronic ID at minimum assurance level advanced — explicitly not QES — with two-factor authentication. This concerns access to the platform, not the signature on this consignment note. 9

The Benelux pilot

Section titled “The Benelux pilot”

Belgium never ratified the e-CMR Protocol. The Benelux pilot fills that gap up to and including 8 July 2027, but only through a software supplier recognised by NIWO. Cargofollow knows these recognised providers:

On a Belgian lane Cargofollow routes to a recognised provider instead of to its own native issuing. Pick a non-recognised provider explicitly and you get that rule back as a finding.

When eFTI subsets start to matter

Section titled “When eFTI subsets start to matter”

From 9 July 2027 enforcement authorities across the EU must accept freight information offered through a certified eFTI platform. Offering it stays voluntary — you may keep showing paper. What is not voluntary: if you offer it electronically, it has to be in the eFTI format and in the right subset. Cargofollow stores that dataset with every shipment, so switching is a choice and not a migration. See eCMR versus eFTI.

Sources

Section titled “Sources”

Checked on the date shown; every rule points at its source.

  1. Directive 2008/68/EC on the inland transport of dangerous goods, Annex I section I.1 (ADR Annexes A and B) — verified_at: 2026-09-14
  2. Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009, Article 8(3) — evidence of the incoming international carriage and of each cabotage operation — verified_at: 2026-09-14
  3. Council Directive 92/106/EEC on combined transport, Article 3 (transport document) — verified_at: 2026-09-14
  4. European Commission — Waste Shipment Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 and the DIWASS platform, live since 21 May 2026 — verified_at: 2026-09-14
  5. Directive (EU) 2020/1057, Article 1 — posting of drivers, bilateral exemption and the IMI posting declaration — verified_at: 2026-09-14
  6. UN Treaty Collection — Additional Protocol to the CMR concerning the Electronic Consignment Note (2008), status of ratifications — verified_at: 2026-09-14
  7. European Commission — eFTI Regulation (EU) 2020/1056: authorities accept eFTI from 9 July 2027 — verified_at: 2026-09-14
  8. Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 (eIDAS), Article 26 — requirements for advanced electronic signatures — verified_at: 2026-09-16
  9. Lia Potec (DG MOVE), Requirements for the eFTI platforms — rules of the game, Berlin 21 October 2025, slide 7 — verified_at: 2026-09-16