On 21 November this year, Emergency Ordinance No. 129/2024 (EEA 129) amended the sanction regime for non-compliance with obligations under the Romanian RO e-Transport monitoring system. The amendment aims to align the severity of sanctions with the frequency of infringements, applying penalties progressively based on the number of violations committed by an operator over a 12-month period.
Proportionality of penalties and other changes
The regulation addresses offences related to specific obligations, such as failing to declare data on the transport of high-tax-risk goods or declaring quantities in the RO e-Transport system that differ from those actually transported.
Since 21 November 2024, penalties have been applied progressively as follows:
- First offence: In cases of international road freight transport (e.g., lack of UIT code, misdeclaration of the quantity of goods transported, or use of an expired UIT code), natural persons face fines ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 Romanian lei, while legal persons will be fined between 20,000 and 100,000 Romanian lei.
- Second offence (within 12 months of the first penalty): In addition to the fines mentioned above, 15% of the value of the undeclared goods to be confiscated.
- Third offence: Both the applicable fine and 50% of the value of the undeclared goods to be confiscated.
- Fourth and subsequent offences: The fines remain the same, but 100% of the value of the undeclared goods to be be confiscated.
“The supplementary penalty in the form of confiscation of the value of the undeclared transported goods shall not apply in cases arising from post-clearance inspections of road freight transport, provided the operators can demonstrate that the transport data has been recorded in the supporting documents forming the basis of their accounts, as well as in the accounts for the relevant period,” the regulation states.
Additionally, the new regulation allows traders to modify certain data within the RO e-Transport System after the expiry of the UIT code. For instance, changes to the name, characteristics, quantity, or value of the transported goods can be made up to the 25th day of the month following the completion of the transport.
Another key provision is a transitional period until 31 March 2025, during which sanctions for non-compliance with the requirement to transmit vehicle location data in the RO e-Transport system are suspended.
Government response to business concerns
The decision to implement these changes follows numerous appeals from businesses across various sectors, which highlighted the technical and bureaucratic challenges posed by the new rules, as well as the disproportionate sanctions for non-compliance (e.g., confiscating 100% of the value of undeclared goods for a first offence).
The amendments aim to ensure better proportionality between the sanctions and the severity of the offence. They also provide traders with an opportunity to correct errors in their initial declarations without being subjected to the maximum penalties prescribed for first offences.