An ordinary commercial invoice in Belgium can be pursued for years. A road transport invoice cannot. Under article 32 of the CMR Convention, claims arising from international carriage by road are time-barred one year after the invoice is issued. After that, a debt that was perfectly valid is simply gone — and no amount of reminding, negotiating or goodwill brings it back.
The rule applies across all countries that signed the CMR, which is to say across essentially all of European road transport. It is mandatory law: you cannot contract around it, and a longer period in your own terms and conditions does not save you.
What this means in practice
In a sector where invoices are often issued in bulk, chased in bulk, and where a customer who is slow rather than unwilling gets the benefit of the doubt for months, one year passes quickly. A carrier who first sends reminders for six months, then tries a collection agency for three, and only then talks to a lawyer, has three months left — and needs an interruption of the limitation period, not a phone call.
Our practical rule for transport clients: an unpaid transport invoice that is 90 days overdue goes to formal collection. Not to another reminder.
Where do you sue — and can you keep it in Belgium?
The second question that decides whether collection is worth it: which court. There are two routes.
Your forum clause. If a signed transport agreement designates the Belgian courts, that is where you go. This is the argument for getting your terms and conditions right before you need them — a clause agreed in advance is worth more than any argument afterwards.
The CMR itself. Even without such a clause, article 31 of the CMR allows proceedings in Belgium where the goods were taken over or where they were delivered. For a carrier loading or unloading in Belgium, that is often enough to keep the file — and the language, and the costs — in Belgium.
Three things to do this week
- Run a list of your open transport invoices by issue date, and mark everything approaching nine months.
- Check whether your terms contain a forum clause designating the Belgian courts, and whether your customers actually signed them.
- Invoice immediately after the transport. The year runs from issuance — every week you delay issuing is a week you also delay the deadline, but every week you delay chasing is one you lose.
Transport is a niche sector for our firm. If your invoice concerns carriage to, from or through Belgium, say so when you upload it — the one-year rule changes the order in which we act.