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THE LATE SHOW
THE JOINT MEETING of the RID Committee of Experts and the Working Party on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (WP15) of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) held in spring 2022 session in Bern from 14 to 18 March. The meeting was chaired by Claude Pfauvadel (France) with Silvia García Wolfrum (Spain) acting as vice-chair; it was attended, either in person or virtually, by representatives of 22 states, the European Commission, the EU Agency for Railways (ERA), the Organisation for Cooperation between Railways (OSJD) and 18 nongovernmental organisations. The role of the Joint Meeting is primarily
In more normal times, this spring session prior to the new editions of the regulations entering into force in 2023 would focus primarily on finalising the details of amendments already agreed. However, in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the difficulties it has presented to regulators, there was rather more work outstanding and some significant new amendments were agreed at the session. These do, however, remain to be formally adopted by the relevant regulatory bodies at their upcoming meetings. TALK ABOUT TANKS While there have been some changes to the
goods in tanks, starting with some issues held over pending final decisions, although not all were taken to a conclusion. The first two items related to the new breed of extra-large tank containers. The first issue to be resolved was actually what is to be taken to be meant by “extra-large”. On the basis of a paper from the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) and the International Union of Wagon Keepers (UIP), it was decided to add the following definition in 1.2.1, after the definition of ‘Tank-container’: In addition: “Extra-large tank-container” means a tank-container with a capacity of more than 40 000 litres. That new definition had been amended from the original proposal to remove specific reference to rail transport, highlighted in an informal paper from the UK, which also affected the proposed change in 6.8.2.1.18. In the right-hand column, third paragraph, “, or 4.5 mm if the tank is an extra-large tankcontainer” is added after “3 mm”. That has
to discuss items of common interest for the regulatory bodies that cover the transport of dangerous goods by rail (RID), road (ADR) and inland waterway (ADN) with the aim of ensuring harmonisation – insofar as is possible – to facilitate multimodal international transport.
way that the Joint Meeting has been operating during the pandemic – and the UN ECE Secretariat is optimistic that a return to normal working practices in the second half of this year – some things remain the same. As ever, the session began with discussion of topics involving the transport of dangerous
necessitated a new transitional provision, which appears at 1.6.4.62: Extra-large tank-containers constructed before 1 July 2023 in accordance with the requirements in force up to 31 December 2022, but which do not meet the requirements of 6.8.2.1.18, third paragraph, concerning the
MULTIMODAL • THE JOINT MEETING OF RID/ADR/ADN EXPERTS MAKE A SURPRISING NUMBER OF DECISIONS AT ITS SPRING SESSION, MANY OF THEM AFFECTING THE 2023 REGULATORY TEXTS
HCB MONTHLY | JUNE 2022
