Greece launches a national e-CMR pilot project

A major step towards the complete digitization of freight transport in Greece was made on Thursday, 22/6, in Thessaloniki, with the pilot launch of the digital “consignment note”.

The first e-CMR digital document was developed on behalf of Hermes Agencies SA, in the framework of a workshop organised by the Hellenic Federation of International Road Transport (OFAE), with the active support of the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure & Transport.

The completion of the first official digital document through IRU's electronic platform was welcomed by the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Nikos Mavraganis, the Deputy Minister of Interior (Macedonia-Thrace), Maria Kollia-Tsaroucha, the Deputy Minister of Transport and Shipping of Montenegro, Dalibor Milošević, the Chairman of the Exporters' Association of Northern Greece, Kyriakos Loufakis, the Head of Goods Transport & Sustainable Development of the International Road Transport Union (IRU), Jens Huegel, representatives of the supply chain operators and carriers.

Adopting digital consignment notes for cross-border transports is expected to increase transport speed, as the process is fully transparent and allows effective controls by the authorities. Real-time data logging allows the entire transport chain to be instantly updated for all stages and to respond quickly and at a lower cost.

“Window to the future”

“We are opening a window to the future, as this is the first time that Greece is trying - along with other European countries - a new process before it becomes mandatory”, said Apostolos Kenanidis, OFAE President, adding that “the digital CMR consignment note can also to be used as a means to ensure the lawfulness of transports, as it will put an end to the possibility of forging documents”.

Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Nikos Mavraganis, underlined the urgent need for Greece to push for the development of Logistics and Transport and stressed that “their promotion is imperative for the Greek government, as they are a pillar of development”. He also added that the Greek state wants to have a role in the management of this useful exchanged data, expressed his certainty for the multiple benefits of digitalisation for the country and underlined the distortions caused by illegal cabotage operations. Among other things, Mr Mavraganis described the e-CMR as a very important tool, in his public address to the conference and stated that the Independent Public Revenue Authority is in the process of developing and implementing a freight transport platform, while he also referred to the National Plan set out for Logistics by regions.

In her address, the Deputy Minister of Interior (Macedonia - Thrace) Maria Kollia-Tsaroucha, stressed the importance of investing in new methods and technologies that accelerate the interconnection of Greece with surrounding countries, through any network available.

During the conference the views of the authorities on the digitisation of freight documents was recorded. Konstantinos Boulmetis, Director of the Political Bureau of the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, stressed the need for the immediate adoption of e-CMR and presented the most important projects that have been and currently are implemented in the field of road transport digitisation. The Director of Transport of the Region of Eastern Thessaloniki referred to the initiative as a facilitating tool for more efficient road checks.

The following also addressed the conference, representing professional associations: Dr Dimitris Vlachos, Chairman of the Greek Logistics Company of Northern Greece, Stamatis Andrianopoulos, on behalf of the consultant company Planning S.A. and Dr Georgia Ayfantopoulou, Deputy Director of the Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT), who presented the next step of digital integration of all transport procedures, as promoted by the European Commission.

In the last section of the conference, representatives of the companies participating in the pilot project referred to their expectations from the application of e-CMR.

The next steps

Efforts are also made to extend the pilot program to cross-border transport operations too. To this end, a closed IRU workshop was held on Friday 23/6 with OFAE officials and representatives of governmental agencies (ministries and customs) from neighbouring countries, where they discussed the development of a Balkan e-CMR Corridor.

The stage of e-CMR adoption or preparation of participating countries was recorded, both at government level and by the carriers themselves. Particular emphasis was placed on the discussion of issues of infrastructure development, safety, e-signature and data exchange, as well as the training of drivers and transport company executives.

It was found that neighbouring countries are closely monitoring the developments and the pilot test in Greece, on the basis of sound competition that is expected to facilitate cross-border transport operations. Furthermore, the need to run similar pilot programs in the Balkans was underlined, in order to clarify problems, especially legal issues related to legal implications.

By the end of the year of completion of the pilot test in Greece, the country shall have to initiate the process for its accession in the UN e-CMR additional protocol, which has already been signed by 11 European countries  and to establish the legal framework for the full implementation of the system.

With regard to the creation of the Balkan e-CMR Corridor, it was found that several preparation steps have been taken to allow the operation of a pilot corridor from Greece to Bulgaria and Romania in the near future, while there is also increased interest by Turkey as well as by other countries in the Balkan region.