Article: Significant Changes to the 57th IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations
By Roberta Perna
The 57th edition of the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations incorporates all amendments made by the Dangerous Goods Board and includes addenda issued to the 2015–2016 edition of the ICAO Technical Instructions. The list of changes has been issued so that companies can prepare themselves for the changes which come into affect on Jan 1st 2016.
Shippers should check the IATA website for the full details but here are some of the changes.
If you have any questions please get in touch with us rperna@worldcourier.com
Dangerous Goods in Consolidations
The regulations have been slightly revised and a definition of consolidation included.
Dangerous Goods carried by passengers or crew
The provisions applicable to portable electronic devices, including medical devices containing lithium batteries and spare batteries, 2.3.4.7 and 2.3.5.9 have been revised to make specific reference to portable oxygen concentrators (POC) as a portable medical electronic device (PMED) as well as revising the list of portable electronic devices (PED) to make reference to the more common items, including power banks, which must be treated as spare lithium batteries and are limited to carry-on baggage only.
Table 2.3.A will be rearranged in alphabetical order.
Electronic cigarettes have been added to the table (only permitted in or as checked baggage), and must be individually protected to prevent accidental activation.
2.8 State and Operator Variations
There are revisions to the variations submitted by France as well as variations now submitted by Nepal and Venezuela. In addition there are a number of additions, deletions and amendments to variations submitted by operators.
Packing Instructions
5.0.1.3—the exceptions from the prohibition on loading packages containing dangerous goods in a unit load device have been expanded on to include those to which this restriction does not apply and to align the list and format to that shown in 9.1.4.
5.0.1.5—an additional paragraph has been added to clarify that an overpack containing dangerous goods may also contain packages of goods not subject to the Regulations.
5.2.0.6—the content of paragraph 5.2.0.6.1 has been moved to become subparagraph (c) in PI 200. This has been done to align to P200 in the UN Model Regulations in advance of additional requirements that will be added to PI 200 in the 58th edition.
There are changes to several PI within class 9 including PI Y963 PI 965,PI 966,PI 969 PI 967 and PI 970
Documentation
When documenting, clarification has been added to identify that it is acceptable to show on the Shipper's Declaration the number of packages by use of numbers or words.
Handling
Units of measurement of the net quantity or gross weight of the packages must be included on the NOTOC.
A new paragraph has been added with recommendations on actions to be taken where packages are found to be damaged or leaking. These recommendations are not for packages of dangerous goods, which are already addressed in 9.3.6, but rather for other cargo, where there may be GHS markings evident on packages and for which there may be a risk to persons or the environment.
Radioactive materials
The text requires that a package must bear a mark to indicate the permissible gross weight if the permissible gross weight exceeds 50 kg.
