What’s New for the IATA DGR 54th Edition?
On January 1, 2013, the 54th Edition of the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations goes into effect. The 54th Edition of the DGR incorporates changes to the 2013-2014 edition of the ICAO Technical Instructions and other amendments made by IATA. A summary of significant changes and new provisions follows:
Postal Operators
IATA has codified new training standards for postal operators. These new standards specifically address the need for postal personnel to recognize and handle the limited suite of dangerous goods that are authorized for transport by international air mail. Notably, the DGR and the Universal Postal Union now authorize certain lithium battery shipments for transport by post.
Classification and Naming
As usual, there are numerous changes and amendments to the provisions for classifying and describing dangerous goods. Most of these are of a minor technical nature and do not require any substantive changes to your operations. A few of note include:
- New test criteria have been added to determine when articles may be excluded from Class 1. [3.1.7.4]
- The provisions applicable to viscous flammable liquids have been revised and clarified. [3.3.3]
- New provisions have been added to address the transport of uncleaned medical devices/equipment. [3.6.2.2.3]
- Provisions have been added to identify the requirements for lithium batteries, including requirements for manufacturers to have a quality management system. [3.9.2.6]
Miscellaneous Changes
The next edition of the DGR includes many other new rules.
- Aside from a few entries for limited quantities, all references to “G” indicating gross weight have been deleted from the Dangerous Goods List. [4.2]
- A number of special provisions that include provisions for certain substances and articles to be “not subject to these Regulations” have been revised to limit the application to when the substances or articles are carried as cargo; see A32, A41, A47, A67, A69, A70, A98 and A129. [4.4]
- From now on, package markings must be at least 12 mm high (6 mm on smaller packagings); as of January 1, 2014, these will be mandatory minimums, not recommendations. [7.1.5.5]
- A new paragraph has been added to clearly identify dangerous goods that can be described on documentation, such as an air waybill, rather than on a Shipper’s Declaration. [8.0.1]
- Enhanced provisions for instructor qualifications. [1.5.6] []
- New provisions for De Minimis quantities of dangerous goods. [2.6.10]
- Almost all of the packing instructions have been revised to include closed head drums (1A1, 1B1, 1H1, and 1N1) and/or other metal boxes (4N) as outer packagings. [5.2]
- Significant revisions to packing instructions for lithium batteries. [PI 965-970]
How has your facility been preparing for the new year’s changes?
Keep informed of all the 2013 changes with up-to-date training at Lion Technology’s Multimodal Hazmat Shipper Workshop. Learn the latest DOT, IATA, and IMDG regulations to prepare your facility for the new year.
Source: http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dangerous_goods/Documents/DGR54-Significant-Changes.pdf
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