Estonia becomes the eleventh European country to accede to e-CMR (the electronic consignment note) – paving the way for easier and more efficient shipment of goods, facilitating trade and preparing for fully digital road transport operations.
IRU Secretary General, Umberto de Pretto said “This latest accession to e-CMR by Estonia is an important new milestone for innovation and we trust it will encourage other countries to join. The more countries using it, the more appealing the system becomes and the greater the common benefit.”
Lauri Lusti, Head of TIR department at IRU member, Association of Estonian International Road Carriers (ERAA) said “This is an exciting development that is part of our wider strategy to digitalise the trade facilitation systems that are currently in place in Estonia. We look forward to the benefits of improved efficiency, profitability and traceability.”
Rules for transporting goods internationally are covered by the United Nations Convention for the carriage of goods, the CMR (Convention relative au contrat de transport international de Marchandises par Route). Transport operators, drivers and those receiving shipments use a CMR consignment note, which contains information about the shipped goods and the transporting and receiving parties. Until recently, CMR notes were only issued in paper form.
In February 2008, a protocol was added to the CMR Convention concerning the use of the electronic consignment note. This protocol entered into force on 5 June 2011, and to date eleven countries have acceded to it. Just last month France acceded to e-CMR and other countries that have already joined include Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland.