China Consults on Third Draft of Measures for the Safety Administration of Road Transport of Dangerous Goods

On February 15, 2019, the Chinese Ministry of Transport (MOT) published the third draft of Measures for the Safety Administration of Road Transport of Dangerous Goods for public consultation. The consultation is set to end on March 14. The first and second drafts of the Measures were released in March and June, 2016, respectively.

The Measures is drafted by the MOT together with Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Ministry of Public Security (MPS), Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM), and State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), for the purpose of strengthening safety administration of road transport of dangerous goods and preventing relevant accidents.

The Measures consists of 79 articles under 10 chapters, which include:

General Provisions
Consignment of Dangerous Goods
Special Regulations on Goods Transported in Excepted Quantities and Limited Quantities
Carriage of Dangerous Goods
Loading and Unloading of Dangerous Goods
Vehicles Transporting Dangerous Goods, Tanks of Tank Vehicles, Portable Tanks, and Tank Containers
Operations and Transportation of Vehicles Transporting Dangerous Goods
Supervision and Inspection
Legal Responsibilities
Supplementary Provisions

With major modifications to previous drafts, the Measures majorly refers to JT/T617 (Regulations Concerning Road Transportation of Dangerous Goods) in stipulating requirements for packaging, labeling, package testing, quantity limit, etc. and proposes to exercise all-round regulation on issues like limited quantity and excepted quantity and mandatary inspections for tank vehicles. Major highlights in the Measures which may concern the industry are listed below.

Expanded Scope of Exemptions

Compared with the previous versions, the new draft further expands the scope of exemptions by incorporating another two categories of goods, namely:

Chemicals which are listed in the Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals or satisfy the requirements for identifying hazardous chemicals specified in the Catalogue, and are neither listed in JT/T 617.3 nor meet standards in JT/T 617.2.
Hazardous wastes of which the transfer and transport are exempted from regulation according to provisions in the National Catalogue of Hazardous Wastes.

Clarified Obligations of Relevant Businesses

According to the Measures, shippers, carriers and loaders need to shoulder responsibilities with respect to: establishing the system of examination, approval, and registration for operations in transporting dangerous goods, the system of personnel safety training, the system of equipment management, and the procedures for sate operations; offering both pre-service and monthly safety training sessions for employees engaging in operations of shipping, carrying or loading dangerous goods; and keeping records of safety training sessions and appraisals.

The other important obligations of shippers and carriers are presented in the table below:

	Obligations
Shippers	Entrust goods to a qualified carrier Make sure the classification, name, packaging, etc. are compliant with relevant standards in JT/T617 Do not mix dangerous goods with non-dangerous goods, make false declarations or transport dangerous goods disguised as general ones Provide the carrier with a dangerous goods shipment inventory and well preserve the inventory for no less than 12 months thereafter Acquire permits (or other equivalent documents) for the transport or transfer of highly toxic chemicals, civil explosives, Type I radioactive materials and hazardous wastes (medical wastes included)
Carriers	Accept only consignment within the approved business scope and operate in line with Provisions on the Road Transport of Dangerous Goods (MOT Order 2 of 2013) Use vehicles and equipment of which the technical conditions meet national standards and match with the properties and weight of dangerous goods, and deploy drivers and escorts with operations qualifications for road transport of dangerous goods Prepare and carry along dangerous goods waybills which should be kept for no less than 12 months thereafter Check the vehicles, equipment conditions and satellite positioning devices and keep records before deploying vehicles Check the appearance of dangerous goods and their packaging

LQ/EQ Exemptions for Road Transport of Dangerous Goods

Further progress has been made in the regulation on road transport of dangerous goods packed in LQ or EQ. The specific requirements and exemptions are presented in the table below.

	EQ	LQ
Standards for packaging, labeling, package testing, quantity limit of each inner package and outer package	JT/T 617.3
Shipping documents	Shippers should provide carriers with written declarations which state that the packaging meets requirements in JT/T 617.3; and carriers should require vehicle drivers to carry such declarations along with them. The dangerous goods shipment inventory offered by shippers should include indication of “dangerous goods packed in EQ” and the number of EQ packages.	Shippers should provide carriers with packaging performance test reports or written declarations which state that the packaging meets requirements in JT/T 617.3; and carriers should require vehicle drivers to carry such declarations along with them. The dangerous goods shipment inventory offered by shippers should include indication of “dangerous goods packed in LQ”, and the number and the gross mass (packaging included) of LQ packages.
Mixed stowage and segregation	It should be prohibited to mix and transport LQ packages of dangerous goods together with explosives. In the case of mixed stowage of LQ and EQ packages of dangerous goods, other dangerous goods and general goods, relevant businesses are exempted from segregation requirements.
Quantity limit for per transport vehicle	Number of packages offered as EQ ≤ 1,000	Gross mass (packaging included) of packaged offered as LQ ≤ 8,000 kg (compared to 1,000 kg in the second draft)

Notably, the quantity limit for the gross mass of all LQ packages carried in one transport vehicle increases from 1,000 kg in the second draft to 8,000 kg. According to the Measures, as long as the quantity limit is not exceeded, relevant businesses will be exempted from requirements for transport of dangerous goods on qualification of carriers, transport vehicles and their appearance and marking, personnel qualification, and transportation. In this way, for instance, enterprises will be allowed to use general vehicles to transport dangerous goods packed in EQ/LQ provided that they have satisfied quantity limit requirements. This hugely favorable change will help businesses streamline relevant procedures, reduce transport costs, and enjoy greater facilitation.

In addition, it should also be noted that dangerous goods packed in EQ/LQ do not include highly toxic chemicals, explosives (Hazard Class 1), and infectious substances (Hazard Class 6, Division 6.2), that more stringent punishments are imposed on businesses or agencies violating the Measures, and that fireworks and firecrackers are completely excluded from the Measures.