MoU establishing the common principles of a system for certifying Entities in Charge of Maintenance (ECM) of Freight Wagons

After the entry into force of COTIF 1999 in July 2006, wagon keepers will no longer be obliged to register their wagons with a railway undertaking. Article 14a of the EU Safety Directive 2008/110/EC and recently the amendments to Article 15 of ATMF adopted in December 2009 both entrust the task and responsibility of maintaining rolling stock to an entity called the ECM, which, according to the regulations, can be the keeper itself, a railway undertaking or an infrastructure manager.  Both regulations require mandatory certification of the ECMs for freight wagons.


Until the certification regulations are established and in force, a temporary Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been set up following excellent cooperation between the railway sector associations (CER, ERFA, UIC, UIP), the safety authorities of the Member States, the European Railway Agency, the European Commission and the OTIF Secretary General.  The MoU is open for all Member States to sign, which a number of States have already done (list). 


The MoU establishes a provisional voluntary system of certification of ECMs for freight wagons. It contains detailed rules on the certification and audits of the ECMs, their tasks and interfaces with other actors, criteria and forms to be filled out and the principle of mutual recognition by all parties of certificates that are issued. .  The ECM certificates are not to be confused with certificates for workshops carrying out maintenance for the ECMs; such WS certification is also provided for in the amended ATMF.