Cars: "CH" compulsory abroad
Cars: "CH" compulsory abroad
"I recently went on holiday to Italy with my car. When I crossed the border, a customs officer noticed that my vehicle was not fitted with the CH sticker and demanded that I pay a fine of EUR 750, failing which my vehicle would be impounded! Did he have the right to do that?
Christian, Vaud
In principle, the "CH" sign on the rear of your vehicle is not necessary as long as you remain in Switzerland.
However, Switzerland has signed the Convention on Road Traffic, which came into force on 11 December 1992. This legal text applies to all signatory countries, i.e. more than 50 countries worldwide. Article 37 of the Convention stipulates that all cars in international traffic must bear the distinguishing sign of the State in which they are registered on the rear of the vehicle, in addition to its registration number. This distinctive sign is defined in Annex 3 of the Convention; it must comply with certain formal requirements, such as size, but must mainly consist of one to three letters in capital Latin characters, such as "CH" for Switzerland. In theory, you are therefore obliged to stick this symbol on your car when you travel abroad; in any case, it is essential to find out about the provisions that apply when travelling abroad by car.
As for the fine that the Italian customs officer made you pay, these are rules specific to each country; each of the signatory countries has issued provisions for the application of the Convention on their territory. It should be noted that not all the Member States of the European Community are signatories to this Convention. The Council of the European Union therefore adopted a regulation along these lines in 1998. This regulation stipulates that the Member States of the European Community must accept as a "distinguishing sign" within the meaning of article 37 of the Convention the registration plate bearing a blue background containing, on the one hand, the twelve yellow stars of the European flag and, on the other hand, the distinguishing sign of the Member State. This means that in Europe, only vehicles from countries outside the Community still have to carry the sticker you were missing.
