New rules for international road haulage from 2022
The new rules you must now follow to transport goods to, through or within Europe using cars and trailers, vans and HGVs.
There are new rules for transporting goods to, through or within Europe. The rules are part of the UK’s deal with the EU (The Trade and Cooperation Agreement).
The new rules affect you if you transport goods using:
- cars and trailers
- vans or other light goods vehicles (for example, if you run a European courier service)
- heavy goods vehicles (HGVs)
The new rules mean that you might need:
- to declare you’re transporting goods inside the EU (this started from 2 February 2022)
- a vehicle operator licence and transport manager if you use vans or car and trailers to transport goods to or through Europe (this started from 21 May 2022)
Declare you’re transporting goods inside the EU
You must now declare when your drivers use HGVs, vans or trailers to transport goods between 2 points in the EU.
Transport goods in Europe in vans or car and trailers
You must now have a standard international goods vehicle operator licence to transport goods in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland using:
- vans or other light goods vehicles (sometimes called ‘light commercial vehicles’)
- vans towing trailers
- cars towing trailers
You also need to have a qualified transport manager.
If you already have a standard international goods vehicle operator licence, you need to add these extra vehicles to your licence.
Consultation
The government asked for views and evidence about how changes to international road haulage rules will affect you and your business. The government has responded and the consultation has concluded.
Updates to this page
Last updated 22 May 2024 + show all updates
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Removed the link to apply to be temporarily recognised as a transport manager from the section 'Transport goods in Europe in vans or car and trailers' as you can no longer apply.
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You now need a standard international goods vehicle operator licence to use a van or car and trailer to transport goods for hire or reward in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
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Added 'Apply for a van or other light goods vehicle operator licence' to the document collection.
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First published.