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MORE TO FOLLOW
The UN Sub-committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (TDG) held its 55th session in Geneva this past 1 to 5 July. This was the first of four planned meetings to develop the changes to the UN Model Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods that will appear in the 22nd revised edition, due for publication in early 2021. Those changes will then be picked up by the modal, regional and national authorities for implementation beginning in 2023. The meeting was chaired by Duane Pfund (US) with Claude Pfauvadel (France) as
International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and 32 non-governmental organisations. The first part of this two-part report (HCB December 2019, page 57) covered discussions relating to the transport of explosives and a number of proposals on classification and packaging. This second part covers the remaining proposals and deliberations. ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS Given the pace of technical development in the
(MDBTC) and the Rechargeable Battery Association (PRBA), querying the correct classification of small, wireless audio headphones (‘earbuds’) and hearing aids, along with their associated charging cases. There is confusion as to whether these should be shipped under UN 3480 or 3481, or both, with the paper proposing an additional paragraph in special provision 188 to clarify that UN 3481 (“packed with”) is appropriate. The Sub-committee had some concerns with the potential scope of the proposal and MDBTC offered to refine the proposal, taking account of the comments made. MDBTC also had some queries about the lithium battery test summary (TS) document. It asked for changes 2.9.4(g) to clarify that the TS document is not intended as a transport document, and that it applies only to cells or batteries shipped under UN 3480 or 3090. The Sub-committee agreed that the TS document does not need to accompany the transport document but felt that the current text is clear enough; it did not agree with the second point,
vice-chair. It was attended by experts from 19 states, observers from Croatia, DR Congo, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey, and representatives of the EU, the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF), the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the
sector, it was perhaps not surprisingthat there were a lot of proposals relating to batteries, cells and other articles in the area of energy storage – and not all of them concerning lithium batteries. One that did appeared in the form of an informal document from the Medical Device Battery Transport Council
clarifying that test summaries are intended for standalone batteries as well as batteries installed in equipment, so information should be provided in all cases. PRBA and the European Association for Advanced Rechargeable Batteries (Recharge) sought changes to 38.3.3(d) and (g) in the
MULTIMODAL • THE UN EXPERTS’ FIRST SESSION OF THE NEW BIENNIUM SAW MOST PROPOSALS BATTED BACK FOR FURTHER INFORMATION BUT SOME DECISIONS WERE MADE
HCB MONTHLY | JANUARY 2020
