Countdown to mandatory eCMR: eFTI and Sustainable Mobility Law

After four years since the adoption of the EU Regulation 2020/1056 on electronic Freight Transport Information or eFTI Regulation, its implementation came into force on August 21, 2024, so mandatory eCMR is closer than ever.

This text was adopted by the European Parliament and the European Council to establish a legal framework for the electronic communication of regulatory information on the transport of goods within the EU between the economic operators concerned and the competent authorities.

While it is true that the timing may vary, the text establishes a detailed timetable that, to date, has only been off by a few months.

• August 2020. Entry into force of the eFTI Regulation.
• August 2021. Notification by Member States of national law provisions and corresponding regulatory reporting requirements.
• February 2024. Although this item was initially scheduled for the last quarter of 2023, a delay in the process has delayed it until February 2024. This involves the adoption of the first Implementing Acts (which are the rules governing the Regulation) consisting of a Delegated Act (DA), which focuses on collecting the Regulatory Reporting Requirements (RRIs) of the national rules and defining the common data set and eFTI sets; and an Implementing Act (EA), which provides for the rules of the National Access Points. The eFTI Regulation will officially enter into force 30 months after its adoption, during which time the authorities must prepare their systems.
• August 2024. Adoption of the second Development Acts. The DA will focus on defining complementary standards for all certification processes of platforms and suppliers, the use of certification marks associated to these documents that will be exchanged in electronic format, standards related to the renewal of the seal of identity of these certifications, etc. The EA will specifically and broadly define the requirements that will be demanded from platforms and suppliers in order for them to be certified.

• August 21, 2024. This is the most relevant date for those who have not yet implemented the eCMR, as the eFTI Regulation comes into application, which means the activation of the countdown for the entry into force of the mandatory electronic CMR.
• December 2026. This date is envisaged as the “full” implementation date of the eFTI Regulation, as competent authorities will be obliged to accept transport information in electronic format. Initially 2025 was envisaged as the key date, but with the delay in the process this date has been pushed back. (The text provides for 30 months from the approval of the first ADs and EAs).
• 2027. Submitting information to the EC on the number of electronic communications between control agents and platforms, to be sent every five years thereafter.
• 2029. The EC will conduct an evaluation to assess the possibility of obliging companies to issue transport documentation in electronic format and under the eFTI umbrella.

All in all, we see that all the actions determined to date have already materialized, which allows us to affirm that as of 2026 the eCMR will be mandatory for the Administration of each member state, which will have to have their systems enabled to receive documentation in electronic format.

Also, 2029 is again a key date, as companies in the sector could be obliged to use eCMR on a mandatory basis throughout the European community.

eCMR mandatory in Spain

As confirmed by the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, the Sustainable Mobility Law will be approved before December 2024 in Congress.

When this happens, a new countdown for the mandatory eCMR will be activated, as the text establishes the mandatory use of the digital version of the administrative control document required for the performance of public road freight transport.

Although initially the date of entry into force of this obligation was September 1, 2024, the delay in the approval of the Law from 2022 has made it necessary to postpone the entry into force of the obligation to use the eCMR until January 2026, as confirmed by ministerial sources.

eCMR with full legal and regulatory assurance

As we have seen, the countdown to mandatory eCMR has already been officially activated in the European Union, as it will be at the end of 2024 in Spain.

Faced with this situation, many companies in the industry have already taken the first steps to adopt an eCMR solution such as FIELDEAS Track and Trace, and some of them are already using it to its full potential.

The SeamLess eCMR of FIELDEAS Track and Trace is one of the few in the market that offers complete legal and regulatory guarantee by having the capacity to include all the required information depending on the type of transport and to include advanced digital signature in the processing of the documentation, as well as to guarantee the integrity of the information in the custody of the document.