| Permits to travel to or through European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) member countries, and the rules you have to follow. ECMT permits allow you to transport most types of goods (or drive an empty vehicle) through ECMT member countries. You need to follow rules about using your ECMT permits, including your drivers carrying the right documents. Check if you need ECMT permits You can use ECMT international road haulage permits for journeys between 43 ECMT member countries: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine and the UK. You cannot currently use ECMT permits to travel to Russia because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A limited number of ECMT permits are available. However, you can usually make journeys to 41 of these 43 countries without an ECMT permit. EU countries, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland You only need your UK Licence for the Community if your journey is between the UK and an EU country, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. You do not need an ECMT permit. Cross-trade jobs in the EU You can use your UK Licence for the Community to carry out 2 cross-trade jobs (moving goods between 2 countries) in the EU. You need an ECMT permit if you want to carry out a third cross-trade job. The ECMT permit will let you carry out 3 cross-trade jobs between any ECMT country. Cross-trade jobs between EU and non-EU countries You need an ECMT permit if you want to carry out a cross-trade job between the EU and a non-EU country. The non-EU country must be an ECMT member country. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine. You do not usually need any permits to transport goods to, through or from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine. However, you need to get a bilateral road haulage permit if you’re travelling: – through Türkiye to another country – in Ukraine using a Euro III or Euro IV vehicle Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Russia or Tunisia You cannot currently get bilateral permits for Belarus or Russia because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. You can get bilateral road haulage permits instead of ECMT permits if your journey involves Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Russia or Tunisia. Unlike ECMT permits, many more of these permits are available. Armenia or Azerbaijan. You must have an ECMT permit to transport goods to, through or from Armenia or Azerbaijan. If your journey also includes any other ECMT countries, you should: use your ECMT permit for the journeynot apply for separate bilateral permits – you cannot use a bilateral road haulage permit at the same time as an ECMT permit What you cannot use ECMT permits for You cannot use ECMT permits: to travel through ECMT countries to countries that are not in the scheme for cabotage (loading and unloading goods for hire or reward between 2 points in a country by a vehicle that’s not registered in that country) Cyprus is not part of the ECMT scheme. You cannot use an ECMT permit to transport goods through Cyprus to ECMT countries. |
