The CMR waybill is the standard consignment note for international road freight governed by the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road, recording the parties, cargo details and carriage instructions for each cross-border truck movement.
In trade practice
For refrigerated food exports from Ukraine to the EU, the CMR waybill should include the agreed set temperature and any special handling instructions alongside the standard cargo description, weight and routing. It is completed by the sender, signed by the carrier on collection and countersigned by the consignee on delivery; the consignee’s signature without reservation confirms apparent good condition at receipt. A common mistake is omitting the temperature instruction, which weakens the shipper’s position in a cold-chain dispute. The CMR waybill travels with the truck and must be presented at border crossings alongside the customs declaration and phytosanitary certificate.
In a specification
A logistics or quality annex may require that the CMR waybill states the contracted carriage temperature and that any deviation noted at delivery is recorded on the waybill before the driver departs.