White export number plates from the Netherlands: 14 days and the Belgian rules

The export registration is your existing registration number, shown on white plates with black characters. According to the RDW, the plate must stay readable in all weather. After the deregistration for export at our desk in Hengelo, you hand in the yellow plates and leave with the white ones, together with the Green Card. A car gets two plates; a motorcycle, scooter, moped, caravan or trailer gets one, at the rear. The table shows the details per vehicle type.

According to the RDW, after deregistration you may drive on Dutch public roads for 14 days with export plates, but never longer than the APK (the Dutch periodic roadworthiness test) is valid. Without a valid APK you may not use the public road at all. Those 14 days on Dutch roads cannot be extended: extending the insurance does not extend the plates. If the car is still in the Netherlands after the 14 days, it can only travel on a trailer or transporter.

Looking for a transit plate for Belgium? For a vehicle bought in another EU country, the Flemish government says: drive to Belgium on temporary number plates or transit plates, applied for in the country where you buy the vehicle, and insure the trip with an insurer in the EU. In the Netherlands, the temporary plate for a vehicle going abroad is the white export plate.

No Belgian source mentions the Dutch export plate by name. Your Europe notes that temporary plates are not harmonised in the EU, so insurance and plates should be recognised in every country you pass through, and the RDW says the rules for Dutch export plates abroad vary from country to country. Our advice: use the plates for the trip to Belgium and the formalities, and if you'll still be driving on them after the first 14 days, ask in advance whether that is allowed and make sure the insurance and Green Card cover the whole period.

In a ruling published by the Flemish Tax Administration, the Court of Appeal in Ghent held that a used car on a valid transit plate from another EU country did not need to be registered with the DIV before crossing the border on its way to the importer's home. After arrival, only journeys serving the formalities may be made, and the importer had to be able to show that he drove straight home. In practice: drive directly to your address, and after that only to the inspection and for the registration.

Antwerp and Ghent are currently the only Flemish cities with a low-emission zone (LEZ), and almost the whole Brussels-Capital Region is one. Ghent and Brussels ask foreign vehicles to register before entering, with an exception for Dutch vehicles. Whether a car on white export plates, already out of the Dutch register, counts as Dutch at a check is unclear, and we could not confirm what Antwerp requires. Check the LEZ rules before you drive into any of these cities.

The white plates come with temporary third-party insurance for 14 days and a Green Card, arranged through our insurance partner. You receive the Green Card at the desk and by e-mail as a PDF. The policy and the Green Card determine which countries and which driver are covered. If the Belgian steps take longer, you can extend the export insurance, 14 days at a time and after the insurer agrees. The export insurance page explains how it differs from the Belgian policy you need later.

If you would rather not drive on export plates, move the car on a trailer or use a transport company. A car on a trailer or transporter usually needs no driving insurance, but the export document is still required.

Once the DIV has registered the car, bpost delivers the registration certificate and the Belgian number plate within 24 hours. Only the official plate comes through the DIV; you have the second plate made yourself to the same specifications, with ruby red characters on a white background. Every step is on our page about registering a car in Belgium.