ARC (administrative reference code)

The ARC is not created by the consignor but by the authority. The consignor submits the draft e-AD, the system validates it, and only the validated draft becomes a valid e-AD whose ARC is returned to the consignor (Section 29 AlkStV). Before that moment the goods must not leave.

The 21 characters follow a readable pattern: the year, the country code of the member state opening the movement, and a sequential part assigned by the system. The driver carries the code so it can be produced at a roadside check. The ARC is also the key to everything that follows, because change of destination, explanation for the delay, report of receipt and the messages about shortages or excesses all run under the same number.

As long as the report of receipt is missing the ARC counts as open and the consignor's guarantee stays tied up.

The most common error is departing without a valid ARC because the draft is still being validated while the lorry is already at the gate. The movement has then not been opened properly and duty suspension does not hold. The second is an ARC the driver cannot produce because it only exists in an email to the transport desk.

The third is open ARCs nobody tracks. They surface when the authority asks, and by then the movement is months old and nobody remembers the consignment.