At the 14th Conference on Logistics and Transport in Belgrade, Željko Bajšanski talks about eFTI, e-CMR and what carriers need to do by July 2027, and we demo eFTI Connect live.
This week bitsEverywhere is in Belgrade. At the 14th Conference on Logistics and Transport, Željko Bajšanski will give the talk “eFTI: The End of Paper in EU Freight Transport?” as part of the transport session.
- When: 22 October 2026 at 12:10
- Where: Atlantic 1 room, Crowne Plaza hotel, Belgrade
- Organiser: Logistika.biz
On the same day, in the same room, there is also the panel “eCMR: From Paper to Digital Transport”, which brings together the people putting the electronic consignment note into practice: from software vendors to the companies that use it every day.
What we will talk about
The talk starts from a picture every carrier knows: the shipment data already exists in the TMS, in the client's system and in the forwarder's email, yet on the road it all comes down to a folder in the cab, a crumpled CMR and an inspector copying the data into a report. After unloading, the same piece of paper is chased for weeks so that an invoice can be issued.
So the talk tries to answer five questions:
- What eFTI is and what it is not. Regulation (EU) 2020/1056 obliges the authorities of every Member State to accept regulatory transport information in electronic form from 9 July 2027, through a certified eFTI platform. The obligation rests on the state, not on the carrier: whoever wants to can still travel with paper. eFTI introduces no new data and does not replace customs.
- How it works. The data stays with business, on the platform, not in a central state database. The authority accesses it through its country's eFTI gate and sees only what it is authorised to see, and every access is logged.
- Where we stand today. The rules are in place, but platform certification is late and the deadline has already been moved. Realistically, expect the first certified platforms only shortly before July 2027, and treat the first years as an adjustment period.
- What this means for Serbia. Serbia has ratified the e-CMR protocol, which enters into force for it on 2 November 2026. On routes where both countries have ratified the protocol, e-CMR has the same legal force as paper, and a signature on a phone gives proof of delivery immediately. eFTI reaches us through accession negotiations, through the Transport Community, and fastest of all through the market: EU clients are already asking for digital data.
- How e-CMR and eFTI complement each other. e-CMR is the contractual document between the parties to a deal (B2B), while eFTI governs the relationship between business and the state (B2A). Data from e-CMR can become the source for eFTI, entered only once. Whoever introduces e-CMR has come halfway.
Five steps to July 2027
The practical part of the talk is a plan for a company with, say, ten trucks:
- Get your data in order: addresses, parties, vehicles, locations. This is the cheapest step and can start tomorrow.
- Introduce e-CMR: it is legally valid and speeds up invoicing.
- Choose a solution: one with a plan for eFTI certification, a link to your TMS/ERP system and data output.
- Enter data once: order, e-CMR, eFTI, invoice, with no retyping.
- Start with a pilot: one EU partner, one corridor, then expand.
The arithmetic for such a company: a month to get the data in order, a month for e-CMR and three months for a pilot with a client. Ready in 2027.
Honest about the open questions
We will not gloss over what is still unresolved: certification is late, so for a while we will not know which platforms are the “real” ones. Small companies, which are the majority here, are looking for a simple and cheap solution. And many e-CMR solutions today do not talk to each other. These are not reasons to wait, but reasons to start wisely: with solutions that follow standards and do not lock you in with a single vendor.
Live demo
We close the talk with a live demonstration of eFTI Connect: one shipment from the order, through e-CMR and the signature at unloading, to the inspection by the competent authority.
If you are at the conference, find us after the talk. If you are not, write to us: we will gladly show you the same thing as in the Atlantic 1 room.
Move freight, not papers.
