International: Bahrain

OverviewOverview & Scope

MTT licenses road goods transport as two separate activities. Internal Transport of Goods (activity 4923-1) covers carriage within Bahrain. International Transport of Goods (activity 4923-2) covers cross-border carriage, and has its own licence and fee in MTT’s land transport tariff. A mover that sends its own trucks across the border therefore needs the international activity on its Commercial Registration and the matching MTT licence, as well as an MTT operating card for each vehicle used.

Bahrain has approved the GCC Unified International Land Transport Law (Decree-Law No. 35 of 2025). It provides that a vehicle may not carry out international land transport between GCC states until it has an operating card, which must be kept in the vehicle, and that the carrier must issue a transport document for the shipment. Its executive regulation, which will set out licensing details and the data required on operating cards, had not been located when this page was checked; existing regulations stay in force until it is issued.

MTT also publishes two route-specific procedures for the King Fahd Causeway to Saudi Arabia:

• a Temporary Operating Card for Internal Transport of Goods (King Fahd Causeway), which MTT describes as allowing companies holding an Internal Transport of Goods licence to operate via the Causeway; and
• a request for entry of foreign empty trucks into Bahrain through the Causeway, used where a foreign-registered truck enters empty to collect a load.

Where a mover subcontracts the cross-border carriage, these licences and documents attach to the carrier operating the vehicle, and the carrier’s own licences cover the transport it performs. The mover should use carriers that hold the licences that transport requires.

RegistrationRegistration & Compliance Essentials

Movers that carry goods across Bahrain’s borders by road in their own vehicles must:

1. Hold the International Transport of Goods activity (4923-2) on the Commercial Registration and a valid MTT International Transport of Goods licence.
2. Obtain an operating card for each vehicle used for international transport, and keep it in the vehicle as the GCC Unified International Land Transport Law requires.
3. Use MTT’s route-specific procedures where they apply, such as the Temporary Operating Card for the King Fahd Causeway or the entry request for foreign empty trucks.
4. Issue a transport document for each international shipment, as the GCC Unified International Land Transport Law requires of the carrier.
5. Maintain the domestic requirements on the Bahrain page (CR, vehicle registration, inspection, insurance and driver licences).

Movers that subcontract the cross-border carriage must:

6. Use carriers that hold the licences required for the transport they perform.

ChecklistCompliance checklist

Company licensing

• International Transport of Goods activity (4923-2) on the CRWhere applicable (mover operates its own vehicles across the border)Verified by DocumentRequired
• Valid MTT International Transport of Goods licenceWhere applicable (mover operates its own vehicles across the border)Verified by DocumentRequired

Subcontracted transport

• Where transport is subcontracted, the mover uses carriers that hold the licences required for the transport they performWhere applicableVerified by AffirmationRequired

Vehicles and drivers (where the mover operates its own vehicles)

• MTT operating card held for each vehicle used for international transportWhere applicable (mover operates its own vehicles across the border)Verified by DocumentRequired
• King Fahd Causeway Temporary Operating Card, or foreign empty truck entry approval, obtained where MTT’s route-specific procedure appliesWhere applicable (mover operates its own vehicles on that route)Verified by DocumentRequired
• Domestic vehicle registration, technical inspection, motor insurance and driver licences current (see Bahrain page)Where applicable (mover operates its own vehicles)Verified by DocumentRequired

Customer practices

• Transport document issued for each international shipment, as the GCC Unified International Land Transport Law requires of the carrierWhere applicable (mover is the carrier operating the vehicles, once the law applies in Bahrain)Verified by AffirmationRequired