NatRoad forms working group to respond to NTC issues paper
The National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) has formed a dangerous goods working group to provide input on the legal framework review being undertaken by the National Transport Commission (NTC).
The Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road & Rail (ADG Code) sets out the requirements for transporting dangerous goods by road or rail.
The NTC’s issues paper, Examining the legal framework for the land transport of dangerous goods, seeks to “consider whether any potential improvements to the regulatory framework of the transport of dangerous goods by road and rail can be identified, and whether interpretation guidance is required to promote consistent compliance and enforcement of the technical requirements in the Code”, according to executive summary.
“The primary purpose of regulations for the road and rail transport of dangerous goods in Australia is to prevent, as far as possible, accidents to persons or property, damage to the environment, the means of transport employed or to other goods.”
Standards Australia released two DG tanker standards revisions this year
NatRoad is seeking to provide input on how states and territories legislate the ADG Code.
For CEO Warren Clark, consistent requirements about compliance and enforcement with the ADG Code agreed between the state and territories would go a long way to helping industry.
“Each State and Territory has a different authority which administers the dangerous goods laws,” Clark says.
“As the regulators, only they each deal with operational issues such as labelling, packaging, quantities or placarding. NTC’s role is limited to maintaining and updating the ADG Code.
“But as part of this current review, NatRoad wants to hear from members about your experiences with any inconsistencies in the interpretation and enforcement of the dangerous goods law in any respect as well as telling us about any ways that the Code has been interpreted differently by regulatory agencies.
“Your feedback and experience will be used in the submission to the NTC due on the 3 July 2020.”
NatRoad seeks operator feedback on their issues with the code and other elements of the dangerous goods law.
The issues paper is available here.