20 march 2024 — 18:00
Due to the expansion of the geography of transportation, the reorientation of traffic flows to the countries of Asia and the East, it is necessary to know on the basis of which driver's licenses it is possible to manage a vehicle in any country, writes the Association of International Automobile Carriers.
The very fact that the driver has a certificate issued in his country of residence does not mean that it will be recognized in all countries. And this means the material and time costs of confirming the legality of driving a vehicle of the right category by this particular driver.
In the field of road traffic, there are two main international treaties covering most States in the world and regulating, among others, the requirements for driving licenses: the Convention on Road Traffic, signed in Geneva in 1949 and the Convention on Road Traffic, signed in Vienna in 1968.
The Geneva Convention has been ratified by 96 countries, some of which subsequently joined the Vienna Convention, which, according to Article 48, replaced and abolished the provisions of the Geneva, Washington and Paris Conventions in relations between the parties.
The Contracting States that have acceded to the Vienna Convention recognize any national driving permit or international driving permit that meets the requirements defined in Annexes 6 and 7 to the Vienna Convention (Article 41 of the Vienna Convention).
When driving through the territory of States that have acceded only to the Geneva Convention (including China), the rules of the Vienna Convention do not apply and a driver's license issued under the rules of this Convention is not recognized by the competent authorities of States that have not acceded to it.
To travel through the territory of such states, you must have an international driver's license - a document confirming the right to drive a vehicle outside the state that issued it. In fact, it is an official multilingual translation of the national driver's license and is used only in conjunction with it.
An international driver's license is issued for a period of three years. If the validity period of the national driver's license, which is the basis for issuance, expires within three years, then the international driver's license is issued before the validity period specified in the national driver's license.
This information should be taken into account when sending drivers for transportation to China and other States that have not acceded to the Vienna Convention.