The COC document
What is a certificate of conformity (COC)?
The European certificate of conformity is the document by which the manufacturer certifies that your vehicle conforms to the type approved in the European Union. It carries all the technical data needed for the registration certificate and allows an imported vehicle to be registered without an individual approval.
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The certificate of conformity (COC) is defined by Regulation (EU) 2018/858. It is drawn up by the manufacturer for each vehicle produced in conformity with a type that has obtained EU type approval. Its layout is harmonised: the same numbered fields across the Union, whatever the language.
It contains in particular:
- the EU type-approval number (copied into field K of the registration certificate) and the type-variant-version (D.2);
- the VIN, the vehicle category (M1, N1, L…), the masses (F.1, F.2, G.1) and the number of seats (S.1);
- the engine capacity, net power (P.2), fuel (P.3), CO₂ emissions (V.7) and Euro standard (V.9).
With this document, the authority links your vehicle to an already approved type: no technical service inspection and no individual approval. In France it is used to issue the registration certificate through ANTS; in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands it plays the same role with the Zulassungsstelle, the DIV or the RDW.
The certificate is handed over free of charge at the first sale of a new vehicle. For a used vehicle imported without it, a duplicate has to be obtained from the manufacturer: that is what we do.