CMR Consignment Note Copies: Three Originals Under Article 5 for Turkey Road Freight
How many copies of the CMR consignment note are required? Article 5(1) requires three originals signed by the sender and carrier: the sender receives the first, the second travels with the goods and the carrier keeps the third. This is the paper consignment-note rule; additional operational copies and electronic CMR records require a separate assessment.
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Short and clear answer
CMR Article 5(1) requires three original consignment-note copies. They must be signed by the sender and the carrier. One original goes to the sender, one travels with the goods and one remains with the carrier. The three-copy rule is a document-formation rule; it does not mean that a carriage contract disappears if the note is missing or irregular, because Article 4 separately states that the existence and validity of the carriage contract are not affected by absence, irregularity or loss of the consignment note.
For Turkey-connected international road freight, the safest file preserves all three operational document streams: the sender’s original or electronic equivalent where legally valid, the copy that accompanied the cargo, and the carrier’s retained copy. Differences between copies must be explained rather than silently corrected after a dispute.
1. What CMR Article 5 actually requires
Article 5(1) of the Convention states that the consignment note shall be made out in three original copies signed by the sender and the carrier. The first copy is handed to the sender, the second accompanies the goods and the third is retained by the carrier. This is the treaty’s basic documentary architecture for the road-carriage record.
The provision should be read as written. The Convention does not say that one photocopy held by one party is the complete legal file. Nor does it say that each of the three originals has a different contractual force. The point is to create corresponding originals available to the principal participants and to ensure that the copy accompanying the goods can perform its transport-document function during the journey.
Article 5 sits between Article 4, which states the legal effect of absence or irregularity of the note, and Article 6, which lists the particulars that the note must contain. A sound legal review therefore asks three separate questions: was the carriage contract valid; how was the note created and distributed; and what information was entered in it?
2. The three-original structure protects the documentary chain
The sender’s copy records the transport information and reservations available when the goods were taken over. The copy accompanying the goods provides the operational document for the journey and delivery. The carrier’s copy preserves the carrier-side record of the same transport. When a dispute later arises, those copies can be compared.
That comparison can be important. A handwritten reservation may appear on one copy but not another. A package count, seal number, delivery instruction or signature can differ because an entry was added after the copies separated. The correct response is not to choose the most favourable paper and ignore the rest. Each available original should be preserved, scanned in full and placed in chronological context.
Post-dispute reconstruction is weaker evidence than a contemporaneous document. If a business scans only the front page and discards the signed delivery side, it can lose material information. International clients should preserve every page, attachment and endorsement associated with the note, including electronic scans received from the driver or consignee.
3. Article 5 requires signatures of both sender and carrier
The consignment note is signed by the sender and the carrier. Article 5 also recognizes that signatures may be printed or replaced by stamps of the sender and carrier where the law of the country in which the consignment note is made out permits that method. Other means of authenticating the document can likewise depend on the law applicable to its making.
The signature rule must not be confused with the question whether the contract exists. Article 4 prevents the legal analysis from collapsing merely because a signature is missing or a note was not created correctly. The absence can affect evidentiary weight and documentary compliance, but it does not automatically erase an otherwise existing CMR carriage contract.
Where a signature is disputed, preserve the original paper if available rather than relying solely on a compressed messaging-app image. Identify who signed, in what capacity and at what stage. A driver’s signature for the carrier and a warehouse employee’s signature for the sender or consignee should be connected to the relevant company through employment, agency or operational records.
4. First copy to sender, second with the goods, third to carrier
| Article 5 copy | Treaty destination | Practical evidential role |
|---|---|---|
| First original | Handed to the sender | Sender’s contemporaneous record of the carriage terms and entries. |
| Second original | Accompanies the goods | Travels through the transport chain and is available at delivery. |
| Third original | Retained by the carrier | Carrier’s record of the same carriage and collection-stage entries. |
The treaty allocation gives each principal side access to a document without requiring the sender to surrender its own original for the entire journey. The accompanying copy can be presented during transit, customs or delivery operations while the carrier preserves its own original record.
A consignee often receives or signs the accompanying copy at delivery. The delivery-stage document can contain reservations or acknowledgements that were not present on the sender’s retained copy at collection. For that reason, a cargo-claim file should request the delivery copy from the consignee rather than assuming the sender’s original is sufficient.
For a disputed delivery, build an exhibit index that identifies each available copy, its holder, the date obtained and any different signatures or reservations. Keep both sides of each document and the complete delivery record. Mark a missing original as missing rather than relabelling a scan or photocopy. This makes the document comparison clear before liability, reservations or a limitation issue is assessed.
5. Article 5(2) addresses several vehicles, kinds of goods and separate lots
Article 5(2) states that when the goods to be carried have to be loaded in different vehicles, or are of different kinds or are divided into different lots, the sender or the carrier has the right to require a separate consignment note to be made out for each vehicle, kind or lot.
This rule matters for high-volume road freight. A single commercial order can be split across several trucks. Damage to one trailer should not be analyzed by assuming that every package on the commercial invoice travelled under the same physical conditions. Separate consignment notes can identify vehicle, package and lot-specific facts.
Where one claim concerns only one part of a multi-vehicle consignment, match the relevant note to the affected goods. Vehicle registration, trailer number, seal, pallet identifiers and package counts can prevent evidence from one truck being wrongly applied to another.
6. Article 4 prevents a missing or irregular note from invalidating the carriage contract
Article 4 states that the contract of carriage shall be confirmed by the making out of a consignment note, but the absence, irregularity or loss of the note shall not affect the existence or validity of the contract of carriage, which remains subject to CMR. This rule is essential whenever Article 5 formalities were not followed.
A carrier cannot automatically answer a cargo claim by saying “there were not three originals, therefore there was no CMR contract.” The scope of CMR under Article 1 and the existence of the carriage agreement must still be analyzed from the transport order, booking, invoice, electronic communications and performance.
Equally, a claimant should not treat Article 4 as meaning the note is unimportant. Article 9 gives the consignment note prima facie evidentiary value regarding the conditions of the contract and receipt of the goods by the carrier. Documentary defects can therefore affect what must be proved by other evidence.
7. Article 5 copy rules and Article 6 content rules are separate
Article 6(1) lists mandatory particulars including the date and place the note is made out; sender name and address; carrier name and address; place and date of taking over; place designated for delivery; consignee name and address; common description of the goods and method of packing; package number and special marks; gross weight or other quantity; charges relating to carriage; instructions required for customs and other formalities; and the statement that carriage is subject to CMR notwithstanding any clause to the contrary.
Article 6(2) then identifies additional particulars where applicable, including prohibition of transshipment, charges the sender undertakes to pay, cash-on-delivery amount, declared value, special interest in delivery, sender instructions to the carrier concerning insurance, agreed time limit and a list of documents handed to the carrier.
Creating three originals does not cure an inaccurate entry. Article 7 assigns responsibility to the sender for specified inaccuracies or inadequacies in the particulars it supplies and also addresses the carrier’s position where the Article 6(1)(k) CMR statement is omitted. Copy compliance and content accuracy therefore require separate review.
8. Article 9 gives the consignment note important evidentiary weight
Article 9(1) provides that the consignment note is prima facie evidence of the making of the contract of carriage, the conditions of the contract and receipt of the goods by the carrier. Article 9(2) establishes presumptions about the apparent condition of the goods and packaging and about package number, marks and numbers where the consignment note contains no specific carrier reservations.
The three-copy structure can therefore matter directly in litigation. If a carrier’s retained copy contains a reasoned reservation that the sender’s copy does not show, the court must examine when and how that entry was made. If no copy contains the alleged reservation, a later statement by the driver must be weighed against the documentary record.
Keep scans in colour and at sufficient resolution to show handwriting, stamps, alterations and carbon-copy differences. Where a paper original has evidential importance, preserve it against further writing or physical damage.
9. Electronic CMR changes the medium, not the need for reliable authentication and access
The 2008 Additional Protocol to CMR permits the consignment note and other communications within its scope to be made by electronic communication when the Protocol requirements are satisfied. An electronic consignment note compliant with the Protocol is equivalent to the CMR consignment note and has the same evidentiary value and effects.
The electronic environment does not justify treating a PDF created after delivery as automatically equivalent to a compliant e-CMR record. Authentication, integrity, ability to supplement the record and accessibility to persons entitled to the information must follow the Protocol. Türkiye acceded to the Additional Protocol in 2018.
For an e-CMR file, preserve the audit trail, authentication method, version history and electronic event records. The business objective remains the same as the three-copy paper system: an attributable, reliable and accessible transport record available to the relevant parties.
10. Turkey-connected road freight: document discipline
For shipments collected in or delivered to Türkiye, the legal file should contain the complete CMR document set alongside the commercial invoice, packing list, transport order and customs documents. Customs records can corroborate vehicle, goods, route and timing, but they do not replace the CMR note’s private-law evidentiary role.
If the sender is outside Türkiye, request its retained original or electronic record. If the goods were delivered in Türkiye, request the signed delivery copy from the consignee. If a Turkish carrier is involved, request the carrier-retained copy and transport-management-system export. The comparison often reveals when a reservation, destination change or delivery signature was added.
Where litigation or recovery is contemplated, preserve the original document before adding internal notes. Business staff should place comments in a separate claim memo rather than writing explanations on the signed CMR note after the event.
11. Evidence checklist for an Article 5 dispute
Collect all original CMR copies; full scans of front and reverse sides; sender and carrier identity records; driver authority records; transport order; package and seal data; pickup evidence; delivery record; any separate notes issued for different vehicles or lots; customs and terminal records; and the complete electronic audit trail where e-CMR was used.
Create a comparison table for every material difference. Record which copy contains the entry, the ink or electronic timestamp where available, the person who made it and the event to which it relates. This method is stronger than treating all copies as if they were automatically identical.
If one original cannot be found, document when it was last held and by whom. Article 4 prevents the missing document from automatically destroying the carriage contract, but the remaining evidence must prove the facts that the lost original would otherwise have helped establish.
12. Claim strategy: document formation, liability and deadlines are different questions
A three-copy defect should not distract from the substantive cargo claim. Article 17 governs carrier liability for loss, damage and delay. Articles 23–27 govern compensation. Article 30 governs delivery reservations and the written reservation for delay. Article 31 governs jurisdiction and Article 32 limitation. Article 5 is the documentary-formation rule within that wider framework.
Accordingly, a foreign claimant should identify the defect precisely. Was no consignment note created? Were there fewer than three originals? Was one party’s signature missing? Did copies differ? Was a mandatory Article 6 field omitted? Was a carrier reservation entered only later? Each issue has a distinct legal consequence and evidential response.
Bakırcı & Keskin Law Office coordinates Turkey-connected international road-carriage matters from its physical offices in Istanbul and Mersin. English-language transport documents can be reviewed remotely. Sending a document does not create representation and does not suspend an Article 30 or Article 32 deadline.
Frequently asked questions
How many original CMR consignment notes does Article 5 require?
Three originals, signed by the sender and carrier.
Who keeps the three Article 5 originals?
The first is handed to the sender, the second accompanies the goods and the third is retained by the carrier.
Does a missing third copy make the carriage contract invalid?
No. Article 4 states that absence, irregularity or loss of the consignment note does not affect the existence or validity of the carriage contract.
Can signatures be printed or stamped?
Article 5 allows printed signatures or replacement by stamps where the law of the country in which the consignment note is made out permits that method.
Can separate CMR notes be required for different trucks?
Yes. Article 5(2) gives the sender or carrier the right to require separate notes where goods are loaded in different vehicles, are of different kinds or are divided into different lots.
Are three identical copies enough if mandatory information is missing?
No. Article 6 separately specifies the required particulars. Copy number and content accuracy are different issues.
Which Article gives the CMR note evidentiary value?
Article 9 makes the consignment note prima facie evidence of the contract conditions and receipt of the goods, subject to its detailed rules.
Can e-CMR replace paper originals?
The 2008 Additional Protocol permits an electronic consignment note that satisfies its requirements and gives it equivalent evidentiary value and effects.
Should the sender keep its original after dispatch?
Yes. Article 5 allocates the first original to the sender. It should be preserved with the transport file.
What if different CMR copies contain different reservations?
Preserve every copy and determine when each entry was made. Do not silently harmonize the documents after the event.
Official legal sources
UNIDROIT — CMR Convention, Articles 4–9 · United Nations Treaty Collection — 2008 Additional Protocol to the CMR.
Legal review and E-E-A-T
Reviewed on 12 September 2026 by Attorney Halil BAKIRCI, Mersin Bar Association, Registration No. 3472. The article is limited to the Article 5 document-copy rule and its relationship with Articles 4, 6 and 9. It does not duplicate the site’s general cargo-damage guide. (E-İMZALIDIR)
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