Third countries are countries that are not part of the European Union, European Economic Area, or Switzerland.
To declare a car registered in a third country in Latvia, you need to use the e-service of the Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD). When declaring, you must also indicate the period during which the car will be used in road traffic in Latvia. The vehicle must be declared before entering Latvia.
Failure to declare a car can result in a fine of between €55 and €140.
Notices, administrative acts, and other documents will be sent to the owner or keeper of the vehicle to an official electronic address account. If there is no such account, the documents will be sent to the e-mail or postal address provided when declaring the car. If a car registered in a third country has committed an administrative offense, a decision will be sent to the person who declared the vehicle.
CSDD data show that a large number of offenses are recorded in Latvia with cars registered in third countries. For example, in 2022, speed cameras recorded 3,656 offenses in cars registered in Belarus, 561 in Kazakhstan, 21,076 in Russia, 8,943 in Moldova and 28,487 in Ukraine. In the first eight months of 2023, cameras recorded more than 34,000 traffic offenses committed in cars registered outside the European Union. The most frequent offenses are committed by vehicles registered in Ukraine and Russia, as well as in Moldova.
"The high repetition of offences is a clear sign of deliberate offending and a sense of impunity," the authors of the draft law point out.
Violators often cannot be prosecuted because they are unreachable.
The expiry sticker for vehicle roadworthiness tests is also to be abolished. From now on, the fact that a vehicle has passed a national roadworthiness test and is allowed to participate in road traffic will be evidenced by an entry in the register and a certificate of the roadworthiness test assessment issued to the driver.
The exception will be tractors, which will continue to be issued an expiry sticker.
