Administrative control
For domestic haulage subject to the Spanish obligation: native PDF, QR code, URL and availability at the roadside.
See the DeCA → Logistics · Electronic consignment note e-CMR consignment note.
e-CMR consignment note.
Requirements and uses.
An e-CMR is not a PDF sent by email. It is an international consignment note (carta de porte) handled through an electronic procedure, with certification evidence and a shared history.
An agreement that moves forward Creating it is not enough.
Creating it is not enough.
It has to be certifiable.
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Prepare
The parties, the route and the goods go into one shared consignment note.
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Certify
Each party validates the same content through the agreed electronic procedure.
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Keep
The note, its signatures and its changes stay available as a single piece of evidence.
A signature is not
a send button.
In an electronic consignment note, certification must tie each party to the content and make later changes detectable. That link is what turns a digital exchange into contractual evidence.
Understand the e‑CMR framework
One journey may need
more than one piece of evidence.
Contractual consignment note
For the international framework: a consignment note and, in its electronic version, a certification procedure between the parties.
See the differences →e‑CMR, without oversimplifying.
The questions worth settling before you mistake an electronic consignment note for a simple email attachment.
Is a PDF sent by email an e-CMR?
Not necessarily. An e-CMR is an electronic consignment note that complies with the Additional Protocol to the CMR Convention and needs an electronic certification procedure between the parties. A loose PDF does not prove that process on its own.
Does the e-CMR replace the DeCA?
Not automatically. A CMR format can work as the administrative control document if it contains the data and meets the requirements that apply to the DeCA (Spain's electronic transport control document). The electronic DeCA also requires a native PDF, a QR code with a specific URL, availability during an inspection, and retention.
When is a CMR used?
The CMR Convention governs certain contracts for the international carriage of goods by road. Before issuing one, confirm the origin, destination, parties and the legal framework that applies to the route.
Does the electronic signature matter?
Yes. For an e-CMR, the Protocol provides for a reliable electronic certification that links the signatory to the data and makes later changes to the certified data detectable.
Start with the right route A clear consignment note.
A clear consignment note.
A process you can defend.
Prepare the shipment data and tell apart, from the start, the administrative control document, the consignment note and the electronic procedure each operation needs.