eDCA – update
New Spanish regulations clarify the scope of digital administrative transport control On 5 June 2026, the Spanish Ministry of Transport published a new Resolución providing further clarification on the implementation of the Documento electrónico de Control Administrativo (DeCA). This publication is relevant for all organisations transporting goods to, from, or within Spain, as it impacts the scope of the previous regulation. Legal uncertainty removed Until the publication of the Resolución on 5 June 2026, it was unclear whether the DeCA requirement would also apply to international road transport. The new regulation now clearly distinguishes between domestic and international transport. The most important change The electronic DeCA will only be mandatory for: Domestic freight transport within Spain; Cabotage operations within Spain. For international road transport, the existing international transport documents, in particular the CMR consignment note and the e-CMR, remain the applicable transport documents. In addition, several previously announced technical requirements have been removed, including the obligation to register the URL of the digital document with the Spanish authorities. International transport: eFTI will become the future framework For international road transport, the Resolución explicitly refers to the future European eFTI framework (Electronic Freight Transport Information). This creates a clear distinction: Domestic transport and cabotage: DeCA becomes mandatory from 5 October 2026. International transport: CMR and e-CMR remain the applicable transport documents for the time being. Digital information exchange with enforcement authorities is expected to take place through eFTI from 2027 onwards. Although the final European implementation is still under development, it is expected that Spanish enforcement authorities will eventually access cross-border transport information through eFTI. What does this mean in practice? For most international transport operators, very little changes in the short term. For cross-border transport to or from Spain, the existing international transport documents remain valid. There is therefore no need to create a separate DeCA. However, organisations that: perform domestic transport within Spain; or carry out cabotage operations in Spain, should prepare for the mandatory introduction of the electronic DeCA from 5 October 2026. Ready for today, prepared for tomorrow The clarification of the Spanish regulation demonstrates that the digitalisation of transport documentation continues to evolve. For international transport, the e-CMR remains the correct and internationally recognised transport document, while eFTI is developing into the future European standard for digital data exchange with enforcement authorities. By choosing Collect + Go, you invest in a solution that not only meets today’s requirements but has also been designed with future legislation in mind. In addition to supporting the e-CMR, our solution also complies with the requirements of the Documento electrónico de Control Administrativo (DeCA). This enables companies performing domestic transport or cabotage operations within Spain to comply with the Spanish DeCA requirements without implementing a separate system. Whether you operate domestic transport within Spain or international transport across Europe, investing in Collect + Go is a future-proof decision. You immediately benefit from reduced administrative effort, higher data quality, faster processes and fully digital document workflows, while remaining well prepared for both current Spanish legislation and future European initiatives such as eFTI. Want to learn more? Would you like to understand what the changing national and European regulations mean for your organisation, or how best to prepare for them? Feel free to contact us. We would be pleased to help you develop a practical and future-proof approach for your transport processes. Reference The full Spanish regulation has been published in the Spanish Official State Gazette: BOE-A-2026-12784 – Resolución de 5 de junio de 2026 de la Dirección General de Transporte por Carretera y Ferrocarril https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-12784
From rules to requirements
From rules to requirements: what your organization really needs to be able to do (and how e‑CMR accelerates that) If you translate eFTI, NIS2, and national add-ons into day-to-day practice, you keep coming back to the same capabilities. Organizations that manage this well are not necessarily the ones with the most tools, but the ones with the most mature information chain. e‑CMR is often the fastest way to introduce those capabilities in practice, because it directly affects daily operations. Data definitions and data quality as the foundation Regulation requires correct information. That means you need to be able to define unambiguously what core fields mean—and ensure those definitions carry through into all systems and processes. As soon as “weight” or “loading location” is interpreted differently across systems, disputes arise. In e‑CMR, this means: the core fields must be correct at the moment of registration, and you must be able to see how they were entered. Collect + Go helps you keep those fields consistent and prevent errors early. Traceability, signing, and version control During inspections, it’s not only about what’s currently shown on the screen, but also about how it came to be: when was it recorded, by whom, and was anything changed later? Version control and logging are therefore at the core of digital evidentiary value. This is exactly the “heart” of e‑CMR: signing, timestamps, status transitions, and change history. With that, you gain—at once—a large part of the auditability that eFTI-type developments assume. Access control and audit trails (security by design) When data is shared, it must be clear who has access and why. A mature approach is selective access, combined with logging. In e‑CMR, this becomes concrete: who is allowed to sign, who can initiate changes, who has read-only access, and how do you share information with partners or authorities without opening up everything? With Collect + Go, you can set this up in a way that works in practice for both operations and compliance. Integrations: from exceptions to scalability Many organizations build workarounds for one customer or one country. That works—until it doesn’t. A scalable approach requires integrations that are repeatable: one data model, multiple outbound connections. e‑CMR is often the first place where integrations truly have to happen: TMS, customer portals, scanners/apps, planning, and invoicing. If you set that up properly, you immediately establish an integration pattern that also helps with national systems. Need a quick overview of laws and regulations in Europe? Download the Collect + Go whitepaper and receive the complete overview of laws and regulations. Download the whitepaper Fill out the form and you’ll get instant access to the whitepaper.
ADR and dangerous goods
ADR and dangerous goods: international rules, local practice (and why digital documentation makes the difference) Transporting dangerous goods is strictly regulated in Europe and beyond. And rightly so: these are substances that can pose risks to people, the environment, and infrastructure. That is why there is an international framework known in the sector as ADR (Accord européen relatif au transport international des marchandises dangereuses par route). In day-to-day operations, however, many organisations notice that “internationally harmonised” does not automatically mean everything works the same everywhere. The rules may be consistent on paper, but inspection practices, interpretation, and the acceptance of digital documentation can differ by country, region, or even by individual inspector. This is where delays, discussions, and unnecessary uncertainty often arise. One rulebook, different execution ADR exists to ensure the safe transport of dangerous goods. It covers, among other things, classification of goods, packaging and labelling, vehicle and equipment requirements, safety instructions, and—crucially—what documentation is required. In theory, it is clear: if you comply with ADR, you comply with ADR. In practice, it can be more nuanced. Enforcement and control culture differ, which means the focus during roadside checks is not always the same and certain details may be weighed differently. Documentation is rarely the issue—interpretation is In ADR transport, documentation is not a formality. It is essential to demonstrate what is being carried, in what quantity, in what form, and under which safety conditions. The challenge usually does not come from unclear requirements, but from fragmented information and multiple versions of the “same” document. When documents circulate via email, PDFs, prints, and different systems, the risk of version mismatches increases. And with dangerous goods, you want to avoid any discussion about which version is leading or what the current status is. Where it often goes wrong: lost time, discussions, and uncertainty Inspections are typically snapshots in time. If it is not immediately clear what the current situation is—or if certain information is not readily available to the driver or the planning team—this can lead to delays. Acceptance of digital documentation also plays a role: some parties are fully digital, while others still rely (partly) on paper. As a result, the same shipment can move smoothly through one region, while raising more questions and checks in another. Digitalisation does not remove ADR—but it makes it more manageable It is important to be clear: ADR obligations cannot be “digitised away”. The regulation and its requirements remain. What you can do is ensure that the core information around a shipment is always complete, up to date, and provable. Digitalisation primarily helps reduce noise: less manual retyping, fewer loose files, and less room for interpretation caused by unclear status information. e‑CMR as a practical accelerator e‑CMR (the electronic consignment note) is a step towards paperless transport. In an ADR context, e‑CMR is especially valuable because it creates consistency. You capture the shipment’s core information in a structured way—parties involved, locations (loading/unloading), status updates, signatures, and remarks—and you create a clear audit trail. For ADR shipments, this helps prevent discussions about who recorded what and when, which information applied at which moment, and what the current status is. More control, less friction When core shipment data and status information are recorded digitally in a consistent way, operations become calmer and more predictable. Information is available faster, errors caused by manual copying decrease, and delays at checkpoints can be reduced because the origin and status of information are clearer. A stronger, traceable file also supports audits, incidents, or claims. You cannot make the international reality perfectly uniform, but you can make your own process more robust and less dependent on interpretation or “noise” in the chain. More certainty in ADR transport ADR is internationally harmonised, but day-to-day practice is not always the same everywhere. That is exactly why it is wise to support ADR processes with digital capture of key shipment information—so you create more clarity, smoother handling, and better provability. e‑CMR is an important accelerator in this: it helps prevent version and status discussions and strengthens the certainty that is essential in ADR transport. Need a quick overview of laws and regulations in Europe? Download the Collect + Go whitepaper and receive the complete overview of laws and regulations. Download the whitepaper Fill out the form and you’ll get instant access to the whitepaper.
Documentation in waste transport
Waste transport: where overlap, differences in interpretation, and digitization collide Waste transport is one of the most heavily regulated domains in logistics. The complexity lies not only in the number of rules, but especially in the combination of documents, overlapping data, and differences in interpretation between countries. For many organizations, this means duplicate entry: the same data appears in multiple forms. In cross-border waste transport, Annex VII plays a central role for non-hazardous waste, often alongside a commercial document. On paper, these documents seem logical, but in practice friction arises: which version is leading, where is a change recorded, and how do you quickly demonstrate during an inspection that everything is correct? Where e‑CMR helps here: even if Annex VII is separate from the consignment note, waste transport in practice often also runs through road transport documentation. If you already have that core flow (consignment note/POD) digitized and traceable via e‑CMR, the overall administrative burden decreases and evidentiary value becomes more consistent. You avoid every waste shipment becoming a “special case” with standalone documents that don’t connect to anything else. At the same time, Europe is moving toward further digitization of waste transport through DIWASS. In that context, 2026 is a transition year. Organizations that start now with data definitions, audit trails, and integrations will be able to adapt much faster later. Collect + Go supports precisely that foundation: e‑CMR as the core, with extensibility toward additional document and data layers. Need a quick overview of laws and regulations in Europe? Download the Collect + Go whitepaper and receive the complete overview of laws and regulations. Download the whitepaper Fill out the form and you’ll get instant access to the whitepaper.
National legislations Europe
Why inspection practice sets the real bar Anyone operating in multiple European countries quickly notices that legislation rarely results in one uniform implementation. National authorities build their own systems, set additional requirements and apply their own inspection practices. Sometimes these additions are logical and arise from sector-specific risks, but for organisations it means one thing: you need to organise your documentation and data process in such a way that you can respond quickly per country, without ad-hoc workarounds. The difference between “always being one step behind” and “staying in control” often comes down to one choice: are you still working with scattered documents, or do you have a stable digital foundation? e-CMR is a concrete building block that appears in almost every international road transport chain. Spain: Documento de Control Administrativo (DCA) In Spain, the Documento electrónico de Control Administrativo (DeCA) plays a role in the further digitalisation of administrative controls in goods transport. The recent Spanish clarification makes clear that the mandatory electronic DeCA will apply from 5 October 2026 to domestic goods transport within Spain and cabotage transport within Spain. For international road transport, the existing international transport documents, such as the CMR and e-CMR, will remain leading for the time being. This means that international transport to, from or through Spain does not automatically require a separate DeCA. Digital data exchange with inspection authorities is expected to increasingly take place via the European eFTI framework in the future. The lesson for organisations is therefore not that every Spain-related transport immediately requires a separate DeCA document, but rather that transport data must be digitally, completely and verifiably available. This is especially relevant for parties active in Spain, carrying out cabotage operations, or preparing their processes for future eFTI developments. e-CMR helps as a stable foundation: even if local documents or additional data layers are required, you want the core of your transport information — shipment, parties, locations, status and POD — to remain centralised and traceable. Would you like to know more about what DCA / DeCA exactly is? View this page: https://collectgo.eu/en/what-is-the-documento-de-control-administrativo-dca/ Belgium (Flanders): OVAM and the digital identification form In Belgium, particularly in Flanders, waste transport is strongly regulated through OVAM, where digital identification forms and tracking requirements call for local integrations. This shows that some domains move towards national systems faster than towards European uniformity. The lesson: set up e-CMR and your data foundation properly first, so that connections to local systems become less “manual work” and more a “translation of the same source data”. The Netherlands: LMA and consignment notes The Netherlands is further ahead with LMA and digital accompanying documents, but that maturity also makes inspections stricter on data consistency and completeness. A digital process only works if data is unambiguous throughout the chain. An e-CMR process with proper validations and logging helps you demonstrate that data consistency, especially when multiple systems, such as TMS, customer portals, e-CMR and national registrations, are involved. Romania: RO e‑Transport (real-time checks and UIT code) Romania shows how far national regimes can go. With RO e-Transport, the approach is based on real-time control: advance registration, generating a UIT code, tracking and detailed information. This is exactly why “documents” are no longer enough. You need to capture data early and accurately. e-CMR is not the solution for every national system, but it is the way to organise your core transport data properly, so you can comply more quickly with additional national data layers. Greece: myDATA and linking transport data with fiscal data Greece links logistics movements to fiscal reporting through myDATA. This creates an additional layer: transport information also touches financial evidence. Here too, e-CMR reduces discussion because the core evidence, such as the consignment note, status and signature, is digital and traceable. This indirectly helps make the rest of the chain, including financial reporting, more consistent. Need a quick overview of laws and regulations in Europe? Download the Collect + Go whitepaper and receive the complete overview of laws and regulations. Download the whitepaper Fill out the form and you’ll get instant access to the whitepaper.
The compliance reality
The compliance reality: inspections, evidentiary requirements, and the ‘hybrid’ problem’ Why inspections often feel different from the wording of the law Many organizations experience a gap between what seems to apply “on paper” and what happens “at the roadside.” Inspections are risk-based and focused on rapid verification. If an inspector has to make a risk assessment within a few minutes, the process that wins is the one that is most direct, consistent, and verifiable. A stack of documents (or separate PDFs) may be correct in substance, yet still create friction if versions are unclear, documents are scattered across email, apps, or devices, or if data is inconsistent between systems. e‑CMR helps precisely because it creates a single source of truth around the core evidence in road transport. Not as “yet another document,” but as data that can be demonstrably correct: who signed, when, which remarks were added, and which version is final. What ‘hybrid’ costs in practice (and why it isn’t “safe”) Hybrid processes often feel “safe” because paper seems like a backup. But in practice they are expensive and fragile. They add extra steps—printing, scanning, emailing, archiving—and with them, more opportunities for errors. The wrong attachment, an incomplete document set, or an outdated version can be enough to prolong an inspection or trigger additional questions from a customer. Mini-scenario (familiar in almost any operation): a driver is inspected and shows a PDF of the consignment note, but the TMS contains a recently updated version (e.g., adjusted weight or loading reference). The content is “almost the same,” but that exact mismatch leads to additional questions. A well-implemented e‑CMR flow prevents these version issues by moving the chain toward one definitive, traceable source. The hidden factor: evidentiary value (auditability) becomes the new standard In a digital chain, evidentiary requirements shift from “the paper in the cab” to “the logic behind the data.” That makes auditability a strategic factor. Organizations that implement auditability well often experience inspections as less disruptive: because information is easy to retrieve quickly, versions are clear, and changes are traceable. Collect + Go positions e‑CMR from exactly this perspective: not as “paperless for the sake of being paperless,” but as a practical way to bring auditability into day-to-day operations. The transfer of goods then becomes comparable to a bank transaction. Need a quick overview of laws and regulations in Europe? Download the Collect + Go whitepaper and receive the complete overview of laws and regulations. Download the whitepaper Fill out the form and you’ll get instant access to the whitepaper.
