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Foreword to Rev. 17

UN Model Regulations

UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods - Model Regulations
Foreword to the 17th revised edition


The Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods are addressed to governments and to the international organizations concerned with safety in the transport of dangerous goods.
The first version, prepared by the United Nations Economic and Social Council's Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, was published in 1956 (ST/ECA/43-E/CN.2/170).
In response to developments in technology and the changing needs of users, they have been regularly amended and updated at succeeding sessions of the Committee of Experts pursuant to Resolution 645 G (XXIII) of 26 April 1957 of the Economic and Social Council and subsequent resolutions.
At its nineteenth session (2-10 December 1996), the Committee adopted a first version of the “Model Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods”, which were annexed to the tenth revised edition of the Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. This was done to facilitate the direct integration of the Model Regulations into all modal, national and international regulations and thereby enhance harmonization, facilitate regular up-dating of all legal instruments concerned, and result in overall considerable resource savings for the Governments of the Member States, the United Nations, the specialized agencies and other international organizations.
By resolution 1999/65 of 26 October 1999, the Economic and Social Council extended the mandate of the Committee to the global harmonization of the various systems of classification and labelling of chemicals which are applicable under various regulatory regimes, e.g.: transport; workplace safety; consumer protection; environment protection, etc.
The Committee was reconfigured and renamed “Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals”, supported with one sub-committee specialized in transport of dangerous goods and another one addressing the global harmonization of classification and labelling of chemicals.
At its fifth session (10 December 2010), the Committee adopted a set of amendments to the Model Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, concerning, inter alia, chemicals under pressure, electric double layer capacitors, mercury contained in manufactured articles, dangerous goods used as a coolant or conditioner, flexible bulk containers, salvage pressure receptacles, lithium batteries, dangerous goods packed in limited quantities, dangerous goods packed in minute quantities and packing instructions.
This seventeenth revised edition of the Recommendations takes account of all the amendments which were circulated as documents ST/SG/AC.10/38/Add.1 and -38/Corr.1.
At its fifth session, the Committee also adopted amendments to the “Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, Manual of Tests and Criteria” (ST/SG/AC.10/38/Add.2), which will be reflected in Amendment 1 to the fifth revised edition of the Manual (ST/SG/AC.10/11/Rev.5/Amend.1), as well as amendments to the “Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals” (GHS) (ST/SG/AC.10/38/Add.3), which are reflected in the fourth revised edition of the GHS published as document ST/SG/AC.10/30/Rev.4.
This publication has been prepared by the secretariat of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) which provides secretariat services to the Economic and Social Council's Committee of Experts.