Establishment of the RO e-Transport system

In the Official Gazette (Part I) no.356 of 11 April 2022, the Emergency Ordinance no.41/2022 was published for the establishment of the National System for monitoring road transport of goods with high fiscal risk RO e-Transport and for the repeal of article XXVIII of the Government Emergency Ordinance no.130/2021 on some fiscal-budgetary measures, extension of some deadlines, as well as for the modification and completion of some normative acts.

The published normative act establishes the National System for monitoring road transport of goods with high fiscal risk, hereinafter referred to as the RO e-Transport System.

 The RO e-Transport system is the set of principles, rules and IT applications aimed at monitoring shipments of goods with high fiscal risk on the national territory, which allows the competent authorities to determine potential points of diversion from or in the supply chain, based on the UIT code.

The system is managed by the Ministry of Finance through the National Tax Administration Agency and the National Centre for Financial Information.

UIT code – the unique code generated by the RO e-Transport system, which identifies the goods related to each commercial relationship that is subject to the transport of goods with high fiscal risk;

Identification by UIT code – the UIT code held by the road transport operator throughout the transport, in physical or electronic format, together with the document accompanying the transport of goods with high fiscal risk.

According to EMERGENCY ORDINANCE  41/2022, Article 4, paragraph 1, the RO e-Transport system includes:

  1. IT modules for the management of the transport of goods, which record data on the consignor and beneficiary, the name, characteristics, quantities and value of the goods transported, the places of loading and unloading, details of the means of transport used and the UIT code generated;
  2. b) interconnection elements with other monitoring systems: cameras, instruments or devices for determining the quantities of products transported and any other specific road traffic monitoring devices;
  3. c) software components for integrated data analysis.

The RO e-Transport system interconnects with the other existing IT systems of the Ministry of Finance (MF), the National Tax Administration Agency (ANAF) or the Romanian Customs Authority (AVR).

As IT systems develop, the RO e-Transport System can be interconnected with other monitoring and control systems.

In order to carry out the specific tasks provided for in the regulations, the public authorities or institutions may have access to the data and information in the RO e-Transport System, on the basis of a protocol signed for this purpose with the National Tax Administration Agency.

From the date of entry into force (11 April 2022) of the Emergency Ordinance 41/2022, the National Centre for Financial Information of the Ministry of Finance provides users, free of charge, with IT modules to obtain the UIT code.

Obligation of declaration in the RO e-Transport Syste

The obligation to declare in the RO e-Transport System the data referred to in Article 4 paragraph (1) letter (a) relating to the transport of goods with a high fiscal risk is incumbent on the following users:

 

  1. a) the consignee entered on the customs import declaration or the consignor entered on the customs export declaration, in the case of high-risk goods subject to import or export operations, as appropriate;
  2. b) the beneficiary in Romania, in the case of intra-Community acquisitions of goods with high fiscal risk;
  3. c) to the supplier in Romania, in the case of domestic transactions or intra-Community supplies of goods with high tax risk, as the case may be;
  4. d) to the warehousekeeper, in the case of goods with high fiscal risk which are the subject of intra-Community transactions in transit, both for goods unloaded on Romanian territory for storage or for the formation of a new consignment of one or more consignments of goods, and for goods loaded after storage or after the formation of a new consignment on national territory of one or more consignments of goods.

The aforementioned users are obliged to provide the road transport operator with the UIT code for the goods transported, directly or via the transport organiser, as the case may be, at the latest on presentation of the vehicle at the road border crossing point on entry into Romania or at the place of importation, respectively on the actual putting into circulation of the vehicle, as the case may be. The UIT code must be entered legibly on the transport document without erasures or additions.

The RO e-Transport system is used to notify information to the parties involved in the transport of goods with a high fiscal risk on national territory.

Users declare in the RO e-Transport system, by option, the data related to the transport of goods with high fiscal risk from the date of entry into force of this Emergency Ordinance.

It is very important to mention that starting with July 1, 2022, the users mentioned above are obliged to declare in the RO e-Transport System the data regarding the transports of goods with high fiscal risk, so that they can be identified by the UIT code.

According to the EMERGENCY ORDINANCE 41/2022, the driver of the transport vehicle is obliged to present, at the request of the competent bodies of the National Tax Administration Agency (ANAF) or the Romanian Customs Authority, the documents accompanying the transport of goods with high fiscal risk.

In order to generate the UIT code, users may declare in the RO e-Transport System the data related to the transport of goods with high fiscal risk, at the latest 3 calendar days before the date declared for the beginning of the transport, but until the presentation at the road border crossing point at the entry into Romania or at the place of import, respectively the effective start of the vehicle, as the case may be.

According to the new provisions, the validity period of the UIT code is 5 calendar days, starting from the date declared for the start of the transport.

The use by the road transport operator of the UIT code beyond its validity period is prohibited.

Moreover, it is forbidden to modify the data registered in the RO e-Transport System concerning the goods transport after the presentation at the road border crossing point at the entry into Romania or at the place of import, respectively after the actual start of the vehicle, as the case may be.

It is forbidden to unload on the territory of Romania the goods which are the subject of intra-Community transactions in transit, except for those which are the subject of storage or the formation of a new consignment of one or more parts of goods.

In the case where both goods with high fiscal risk and other goods not belonging to the category of goods with high fiscal risk established for this purpose by order of the President of the National Tax Administration Agency are transported, users are obliged to declare in the RO e-Transport System the transport data for all goods transported, and the UIT code or UIT codes shall accompany the corresponding transport document.

Contraventions:

Please note that the EMERGENCY ORDINANCE 41/2022 also includes fines for non-compliance with the new rules.

Failure to comply with the provisions of the Emergency Ordinance is punishable by a fine of 10,000 lei to 50,000 lei for individuals or a fine of 20,000 lei to 100,000 lei for legal entities. For some offences, the confiscation of the value of undeclared goods may also be ordered.

Some offences are punishable by a fine of 5,000 lei to 10,000 lei.

The detection and application of sanctions are carried out by the authorized persons of the National Tax Administration Agency or the Romanian Customs Authority.

The provisions of Government Ordinance no.2/2001 on the legal regime of offences, approved with amendments and additions by Law no.180/2002, with subsequent amendments and additions, are applicable to offences.

Please note that by order of the President of the National Tax Administration Agency issued within 15 days from the date of entry into force of the EMERGENCY ORDINANCE  41/2022, the goods with high fiscal risk transported by road that are subject to monitoring by the RO e-Transport System are determined.

Exceptions to the provisions of this Emergency Ordinance are the transport of goods destined for diplomatic missions and consular offices, as well as international organizations, armed forces of NATO member states, the European Union, member states of the Partnership for Peace or states with which Romania has signed agreements in this field or as a result of the execution of contracts classified according to the law or the execution of public procurement contracts that require the imposition, according to legal provisions, of special security measures to protect essential state security interests.

Legal basis:

EMERGENCY ORDINANCE 41/2022 for the establishment of the National System for monitoring the road transport of goods with high fiscal risk RO e-Transport and repealing Article XXVIII of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 130/2021 on some fiscal-budgetary measures, extension some terms, as well as for the modification and completion of some normative acts;

EMERGENCY ORDINANCE 130/2021 regarding some fiscal-budgetary measures, the extension of some terms, as well as for the modification and completion of some normative acts.