E-Transport Lawyer in Romania – UIT Code

The RO e-Transport system is a mandatory reporting platform introduced by Romanian authorities to track high fiscal risk goods and combat tax evasion. It applies to domestic and cross-border transports, requiring businesses to report transport details and generate a Unique Transport Identification Code (UIT).

While designed to enhance transparency, the system poses compliance challenges for international companies, including complex reporting rules, technical difficulties, and severe penalties for non-compliance—ranging from heavy fines to the confiscation of the equivalent value of undeclared goods.

For foreign companies transporting goods through or into Romania, failure to comply with these requirements can lead to delays, financial losses, and legal risks, making it essential to understand and adapt to the system’s obligations.

In the RO e-Transport System, data is recorded regarding the sender, beneficiary, or recipient, the name, characteristics, quantities, and value of the transported goods, loading and unloading locations, details about the means of transport used and the transporter, the declared start date of the transport, as well as the generated UIT code. The RO e-Transport system applies to all high fiscal risk goods transports that begin and end within Romania, any export or intra-community delivery of goods that starts in Romania, any import or intra-community acquisition of goods that ends in Romania, as well as any intra-community transport in transit through Romania, where the goods are temporarily stored within Romania.

According to OUG 41/2022, failure to comply with the obligation to declare goods in the RO e-Transport system for both national and international transports is subject to fines ranging from 10.000 to 50.000 RON (2.000 € to 10.000€)  for individuals and 20.000 to 100.000 RON (4.000 € to 20.000 €) for legal entities, as well as the confiscation of the equivalent value of undeclared goods.

According to the provisions of OUG 41/2022, the confiscation of the equivalent value of undeclared goods applies in the following cases of contraventions:

• Failure to declare in the RO e-Transport system the data related to the transport of high fiscal risk goods, preventing their identification via the UIT code;
• Using the UIT code beyond its validity period;
• Unloading on Romanian territory goods subject to intra-community transactions in transit, except for those intended for storage or forming a new transport;
• Declaring different quantities in the RO e-Transport system than those actually transported.

The regulation regarding the complementary sanction of confiscation does not allow the tax authorities to individualize the penalty based on the severity of the offense. Instead, it is automatically applied whenever a violation of Article 13 (1) of OUG 41/2022 is identified.

In other words, even if the tax authority decides to impose a minimum fine on an economic operator committing a first-time offense related to the RO e-Transport system, the confiscation of the value of undeclared goods will always be enforced.

Therefore, if an economic operator fails to declare in the RO e-Transport system the required data for the transport of high fiscal risk goods—thus preventing their identification via the UIT code—the confiscation of the total value of the transported goods will be ordered.

Given that economic operators organize the transport of high fiscal risk goods, whose value can reach even hundreds of thousands of euro, a confiscation sanction for the undeclared value of such goods can have devastating consequences on their business activities. Removing an economic operator from the market due to a single declaration error cannot be considered a fair measure that aligns with the intended purpose of the law.

From the way the legal text is drafted, it is clear that the legislator did not take into account the possibility that such a sanction could be disproportionate to the actual offense. In the past, similar national regulations have been deemed unjust by European courts.

Moreover, following the ruling of the High Court of Cassation and Justice (ÎCCJ) – Panel for resolving appeals in the interest of the law, Decision No. 5/12.04.2021, it could be argued that if contraventional complaints are filed against reports imposing fines along with the confiscation of the value of undeclared goods, courts will not have the authority to assess the proportionality of the complementary sanction. In other words, even if a court could replace a fine with a warning, it would not be able to eliminate the confiscation measure, even if deemed disproportionate to the offense.

Therefore, for transport operators facing severe penalties under the RO e-Transport system, including substantial fines and confiscation of the value of undeclared goods, the financial impact can be catastrophic. Given the rigid enforcement of these sanctions, even minor reporting errors can lead to disproportionate consequences. The Romania law firm Blaj Law stands with affected businesses, providing comprehensive legal assistance to challenge these penalties, mitigate financial damages, and advocate for a fair application of the law. Our legal team offers expert representation in court, ensuring that transport companies have the strongest possible defense against unjust enforcement actions.