International registration certificate on export plates: is it needed?

You do not need the international registration certificate (Internationaler Zulassungsschein) to drive a car on German export plates to Serbia or BiH. Every country on the way is a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic and must recognise the German Part I, which is the document you carry. If you want the certificate anyway, the registration office issues it with the export plates on request, for €10.20 to €11.40.

What the certificate is

The Internationaler Zulassungsschein is an optional German document that the registration office issues on request, on the model of the Paris convention on motor traffic of 24 April 1926 (FZV section 44). The federal description of the service calls it a translation of Part I into several languages that supplements the vehicle papers and does not replace them; Berlin says it is valid only together with Part I. It is valid for one year from issue (1926 convention, article 4).

With export plates the office may issue it as well and then writes the plates' expiry date on it (FZV section 45). It is not a condition for the plates.

Do you need it to Serbia or BiH?

No. Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are all parties to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. Between its parties that convention replaces the 1926 one on which the certificate rests (article 48), and each party must recognise the national registration certificates of the others (articles 3 and 35). It asks for no separate international certificate.

The EU countries on the way must also recognise the German Part I under EU law (Directive 1999/37/EC, article 4). German offices agree: Hamburg says Part I is enough within the EU, and Berlin says the certificate may be needed for trips outside Europe.

What Serbia and BiH ask for

Serbian law admits cars registered abroad that carry the equipment the Vienna Convention prescribes and are insured under Serbian rules, and says nothing of an international certificate (Road Traffic Safety Law, article 248). Serbian customs name the registration certificate as the document that identifies the car and accept regular or temporary plates, such as ZOLL.

The BiH Border Police lists a valid registration certificate, plates issued by the country of registration, that country's international sign and insurance valid in BiH. The certificate must be valid at the crossing, so cross before the expiry date on your export Part I.

What to carry instead

The German document that does this job is the export-only Part I issued with the plates, which you must carry and show on request (FZV section 45). The export plates guide lists the other papers to carry and explains the D sign the car needs at the rear.

If you want one anyway: the fee

Ask for it at the same appointment as the export plates. The federal description of the service gives a fee of €10.20, and offices charge €10.20 to €11.40: at least €10.50 in Berlin, about €11 in Hamburg and €11.40 on top of the export-plate fee in the district of Nürnberger Land. It is a public fee under the federal fee schedule (GebOSt); which item of the schedule applies is not confirmed, because none names the certificate.

The calculator leaves this cost out; switch the row on only if you ask for the certificate.

Common mistakes

"Outside the EU you also need the international certificate." Not on this route: Serbia, BiH and every country on the way recognise the German Part I (Vienna Convention, articles 3 and 48).
"You need an internationale Zulassung." German offices use that name, and Ausfuhrzulassung, for the export registration that comes with the export plates, not for the Internationaler Zulassungsschein.
"The international certificate is a Carnet de Passages." A Carnet is a separate document, issued by automobile clubs, for bringing a car into certain countries temporarily free of duty; it is not a registration certificate.

This step of the import

Work out the whole cost

Sources

The official laws, decisions and pages this guide rests on, read on 23/09/2026. Rules and amounts change, so check the ones that matter to you before you buy.