Where eCMR is valid
eCMR replaces the paper CMR consignment note by virtue of the Additional Protocol to the CMR Convention, so its validity extends as far as the treaty does. To date, more than forty countries (42 parties as of November 2026) have ratified or acceded to it, and the list keeps growing (the CMR Convention has 58 contracting parties; not all of them have yet adopted the electronic protocol).
Countries already applying it include, for example, Spain (since 2011), France, Portugal, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Hungary and Austria, among others. Belgium, on the other hand, signed it in 2008 but has not ratified it, so it is not a party. As the list changes with each new accession, the reliable, up-to-date reference is the United Nations Treaty Collection: the depositary of the Protocol is the UN Secretary-General.
How to tell whether your route allows it
The practical rule is simple: check that the countries of origin and destination on the route have ratified the Protocol, and that the parties (sender, carrier, consignee) agree to use eCMR. If any country involved has not adopted it yet, the prudent course for that particular route is to keep the paper CMR consignment note until it does.
The good news is that the trend only goes one way: more countries join every year, and the European eFTI framework is pushing authorities to accept transport information electronically, which strengthens the ground for eCMR.
The DeCA and eCMR coexist in the same fleet
This is the confusion that costs the most money. The DeCA (Spain’s electronic control document for domestic haulage) and eCMR do not compete: they cover different scopes, and a fleet that does a bit of everything needs both.
| Domestic transport (Spain) | International transport | |
|---|---|---|
| Document | DeCA (control document) | CMR consignment note / eCMR |
| Mandatory in electronic form? | Yes, since 5 October 2026 | No: eCMR is voluntary |
| Legal basis | Spanish Law 9/2025 + Resolution of 5 June 2026 | Additional Protocol to the CMR Convention (2008) |
| Scope | Spain (domestic) | Countries that have ratified the Protocol |
The same truck can run a domestic route in Spain today (DeCA) and an international one tomorrow (eCMR). What matters is that each shipment carries the document that matches its scope — not mixing them up or assuming one covers the other.
A system that recognises the scope of each shipment
Handling this by hand — deciding for each consignment whether it needs a DeCA or an eCMR — is a source of errors. The efficient approach is for your ERP or TMS to know the scope of the transport order (origin, destination, whether it crosses a border) and automatically generate the right document: the DeCA with its technical requirements for domestic work in Spain, eCMR for international work. That way the driver does not have to decide anything at the loading bay, and the paperwork always matches the route.
If you are starting from scratch, first read what eCMR is and the comparison DeCA vs eCMR vs eFTI.
Official sources
- Additional Protocol to the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) concerning the Electronic Consignment Note (Geneva, 20 February 2008) — Spain’s Instrument of Accession (BOE-A-2011-10283). boe.es
- Status of the e-CMR Protocol — contracting parties (United Nations Treaty Collection). treaties.un.org
- Spanish Law 9/2025 of 3 December on Sustainable Mobility (Ley de Movilidad Sostenible) (BOE-A-2025-24545). boe.es
- Resolution of 5 June 2026 of the Spanish Directorate-General for Road and Rail Transport (Dirección General de Transporte por Carretera y Ferrocarril) (BOE-A-2026-12784). boe.es