What types of transport require mandatory registration in the BIREG system?
BIREG is Hungary’s electronic system for registering certain road transport operations in advance. The obligation depends on the route and the legal basis for the journey, rather than simply on a truck having foreign number plates. Before arranging freight transport through Hungary, establish whether a permit is required, whether a specific exemption applies and which empty journeys belong to the operation.
Use the vehicle’s permissible mass
Section 4/A of Hungarian Government Decree 261/2011 refers to a maximum permissible gross mass exceeding 3.5 tonnes for the relevant international operations. This is the vehicle or vehicle combination’s permitted mass, not the cargo weight recorded in the CMR. Within the provision’s scope, the criterion covers both hire-or-reward and own-account transport.
For example, carrying a 1.5-tonne consignment in a truck with an 18-tonne maximum permissible mass does not make it a light-vehicle operation. Exceeding the threshold does not, on its own, establish a BIREG obligation: the permit basis must also be checked.
Assess the permit and the actual journey
The system covers the permit-based operations specified by Hungarian legislation, including relevant bilateral and ECMT permit operations and associated empty runs. Cabotage has its own registration requirements, including the relevant international legs before and after it. Ordinary international carriage under a Community licence should not automatically be treated as cabotage.
A Ukrainian carrier should separately assess the EU–Ukraine road freight agreement. As checked on 29 October 2026, the agreement has been extended until 31 March 2027. Bilateral and transit operations that genuinely qualify for its permit exemption do not become permit-based merely because they pass through Hungary. This is not a blanket exemption for cabotage or every journey between third countries.
Consequently, a Kyiv–Budapest movement and a journey performed by a Ukrainian carrier from Hungary to a third country can produce different conclusions. The separate guide to ECMT permits explains the multilateral permit framework.
Check applicability before loading
1. Record the carrier’s country of establishment, every loading and unloading point, transit countries and associated empty legs.
2. Check the vehicle or combination’s maximum permissible mass against its registration documents.
3. Identify the operating basis: a bilateral permit, ECMT permit, Community licence or a specific international exemption.
4. Compare the operation with the current Section 4/A. Obtain clarification of the applicable regime for an unusual route before dispatching the vehicle.
5. Where registration is required, enter the journey and upload documents by the applicable deadline. The current provision requires the relevant data before loading; waiting until the truck reaches the border is not a sound compliance process.
Coordinate the carrier and the loading site
The carrier first registers its business in the official BIREG system, then registers the relevant journey. Vehicle, route, operation and permit details must be accurate. Border entry and exit events must include the information required by the system, including location, time and odometer readings.
Hungarian consignors and consignees also have obligations to check permits and registrations and record loading or unloading information and documents. Discrepancies can interrupt dispatch arrangements and lead to notification of the authorities. Assign responsibility for each entry when organising freight forwarding.
BIREG does not replace a customs declaration or EU customs clearance. Poland’s RMPD registration is a separate requirement as well: compliance with one system does not demonstrate compliance with another.
When planning international road freight, send SPS the route, dates, vehicle documents and the carrier’s market-access basis. These inputs allow registration requirements to be assessed before departure, while there is still time to resolve missing information.
