The ATP certificate explained: five equipment classes, one six-year cycle

ATP is a UNECE treaty governing vehicles that carry perishable food across borders. It certifies equipment, not food, and it is not a product standard like CE or CCC. This page sets out the five equipment classes, the thresholds behind the certificate, what the certificate itself contains, and what a vehicle built in China can and cannot obtain.

Equipment classes

Class designations

Re-inspection

6 years

Verified

2026-10-27

ATP scopeCross-border carriageCold-chain class for a reefer truckClass FType approval validity6 yearsChinaNot a Contracting Party

What ATP is, and what it is not

ATP stands for the Agreement on the International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the Special Equipment to be Used for Such Carriage. It was concluded in Geneva in 1970 under the UNECE inland transport framework, and it has been amended many times — the text applied on this page is the version amended on 22 June 2024.

It does two things and only two things. It sets the technical requirements for the special equipment — the insulated, refrigerated or heated body — and it establishes an inspection and certification regime to prove that a given unit meets those requirements.

What it is not: a product standard. CE marking, CCC type approval and ATP operate in different registers. A vehicle can hold CCC type approval and be unable to obtain ATP approval inside China, because China is not a party to the agreement. Equally, an ATP certificate says nothing about whether a vehicle may be sold or registered in a given country.

It also does not apply to domestic transport. ATP is triggered by a border crossing between Contracting Parties. A truck that never leaves Kenya is not in ATP scope, however cold it runs.

The five equipment classes, with their thresholds

ATP Annex 1 divides special equipment into five families. Each family has its own class designations and its own thresholds. These are the numbers the certificate is testing against.

Table 1 — Insulated equipment. K coefficient is the heat transfer through the body.
Designation	K coefficient limit	Additional condition
I_N — normally insulated	≤ 0.70 W/m²·°C	—
I_R — heavily insulated	≤ 0.40 W/m²·°C	Equipment wider than 2.50 m: side wall ≥ 45 mm

Table 2 — Refrigerated equipment, non-mechanical cold source (ice, eutectic plates, dry ice, liquefied gas). Empty body pulled down and held at external mean +30 °C.
Class	Internal temperature	K coefficient requirement
A	+7 °C (44.6 °F)	—
B	−10 °C (14 °F)	≤ 0.40 W/m²·°C
C	−20 °C (−4 °F)	≤ 0.40 W/m²·°C
D	0 °C (32 °F)	—

Table 3 — Mechanically refrigerated equipment. This is the family a refrigerated truck belongs to. Test condition: external mean +30 °C.
Class	Internal temperature capability	K coefficient requirement
A	Selectable between +12 °C and 0 °C	—
B	Selectable between +12 °C and −10 °C	≤ 0.40 W/m²·°C
C	Selectable between +12 °C and −20 °C	≤ 0.40 W/m²·°C
D	T_i ≤ 0 °C	—
E	T_i ≤ −10 °C	≤ 0.40 W/m²·°C
F	T_i ≤ −20 °C	≤ 0.40 W/m²·°C

A unit that holds −18 °C in service is claiming Class F capability. Note that the class is established by test, not by the set-point on the controller.

Table 4 — Heated equipment. Must raise and hold ≥ +12 °C for at least 12 hours without an energy input.
Class	External mean temperature
A	−10 °C
B	−20 °C
C	−30 °C
D	−40 °C

Classes B, C and D additionally require K ≤ 0.40 W/m²·°C.

Table 5 — Mechanically refrigerated and heated equipment.
Designation	Combinations
A to L — 12 classes	Internal temperature capability (+12 to 0 °C, or +12 to −20 °C) combined with external temperature (−10, −20, −30 or −40 °C). Twelve designations in total.

The combination family exists so that one unit can be certified for both directions of the temperature range. It does not add a thirteenth threshold.

What the certificate actually contains, and how long it lasts

The certificate is not a single document. ATP Annex 1, Appendix 3 requires three things to be carried on the vehicle at the same time, and they are checked together at a border inspection.

Table 6 — The three elements of an ATP-certified vehicle.
Element	What it is
Certificate of compliance	Issued by the competent authority of a Contracting Party, naming the equipment, its class and the unit it applies to.
Certification plate	A physical plate fixed to the vehicle, stating the class and the date from which the certificate is valid.
Distinguishing marks	The letter or letters identifying the class, displayed on the body as prescribed.

Table 7 — Inspection and validity.
Item	Rule	Source
When it is inspected	Before entry into service, then at least once every 6 years, and whenever the competent authority requires it	Annex 1, App. 1, §1
Testing a production series	One unit may be tested for a series. The test report serves as the type approval certificate and is valid for 6 years	Annex 1, App. 1, §2(a)
How the numbers are measured	Insulating capacity and cooling capacity measurement procedures	Annex 1, App. 2

The six-year figure matters commercially: an expired certificate is treated as no certificate, and re-inspection has to be arranged in a Contracting Party, not in the country of manufacture.

China is not a Contracting Party — what that actually changes

Where each market checks

This is the part most supplier websites leave out. Mainland China is not a Contracting Party to the ATP Agreement. ATP approval is issued by the competent authority of a Contracting Party, on the basis of a test carried out by a test station in that territory. There is no ATP issuing authority inside China, so a vehicle cannot be ATP-approved in China, however well it performs.

For a buyer, this is not a reason to reject a Chinese-built unit. It is a reason to agree, before the order, which route the certificate will be obtained through.

Table 8 — The three routes that exist in practice.
Your situation	What applies	Who issues
The vehicle stays inside China	GB 29753-2023 conformity plus CCC type approval. ATP does not apply	Chinese certification bodies, e.g. CCAP
Export to a country that is not an ATP Contracting Party	That country’s own import and registration rules. ATP does not apply	The importing country authority
Export to an ATP Contracting Party for international carriage	ATP certificate, plate and marks. The test must be done in a Contracting Party	A test station and competent authority in that Party

In Africa, only Morocco and Tunisia appear on the Contracting Party list. Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania and Ethiopia are not parties, and their import requirements are national, not ATP-based. A vehicle bound for those markets is not made more compliant by holding an ATP document.

The list of Contracting Parties is amended over time. The enumeration behind this page is the one printed in the 2014 edition of the agreement; the current status must be read from the UNECE treaty status page for the date of your shipment, not from any supplier website, including this one.

What this page does not claim

Four statements we deliberately do not make. Each one is common on supplier sites and each one would be a guess.

Table 9 — Deliberate limits.
Not claimed	Why
No conversion table between GB 29753 classes and ATP classes	The two instruments measure different things for different legal purposes. No official table converts one into the other, so any conversion would be invented.
No full Contracting Party list presented as current	The enumeration we hold is the 2014 text. A 2026 list would have to be read from UNECE on the day, so we point there instead of printing a stale table.
No claim that we hold ATP certificates	We hold CCC certificates and MIIT type approvals. If your route requires ATP, the certificate is obtained through a test station in a Contracting Party, and we will say so plainly.
No K value published per model	A K coefficient comes from a third-party test report on a specific body, not from a bulletin. The specifications page states the same limit.

If your route needs ATP

Tell us the country of registration and whether the vehicle will cross a border, and we will say which of the routes in Table 8 applies, what the vehicle already satisfies, and what would have to be arranged in a Contracting Party. That answer costs one email and prevents a much more expensive conversation at the port.

Send the destination and the intended use. We will reply with the compliance route, and the documents we hold for that model.

Ask about your route

Sources and verification. All figures from the Agreement on the International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the Special Equipment to be Used for Such Carriage, text as amended 22 June 2024, Annex 1 and Annex 1 Appendices 1–3 (UNECE, unece.org, retrieved 2026-10-26). Contracting Party enumeration per the 2014 edition of the agreement; current status must be read from the UNECE treaty status page. GB 29753-2023 status per the China national standards database (openstd.samr.gov.cn, retrieved 2026-10-26). Last verified 2026-10-27.

GB 29753 vs UNECE ATPWhich of the two instruments applies to your route, and why they cannot be converted.Refrigerated truck specificationsThe 18 models we hold type approval for, with the bulletin batch cited per row.Standards change timelineWhich edition of which standard is in force, and which editions are withdrawn.Import compliance indexOfficial entry points for each market, and the six questions that decide the paperwork.