Agenda item 6	UN/CETDG/20/INF.29

COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON THE

TRANSPORT OF DANGEROUS GOODS

(Twentieth session,

Geneva, 7-16 December l998,

agenda item 6)

PUBLICATION OF THE 11TH REVISED EDITION OF THE ORANGE BOOK,

OF THE 3RD REVISED EDITION OF THE MANUAL OF TESTS AND CRITERIA

AND OF EXPLANATORY MATERIAL

Note by the Secretariat

1.	During the last session of the Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, the Secretariat was invited to prepare a document with proposals on how best to prepare and publish both amendments to the Manual of Tests and Criteria and Explanatory Material (ST/SG/AC.10/C.3/30, para. 167).

2.	The Secretariat has considered the question and suggests that in future the Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods should be published in three different parts:

(a)	the Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, which would contain the basic recommendations and all principles applied to the allocation of specific requirements ("Explanatory Material"). This publication would mainly be intended for regulatory bodies and experts of the Committee and Sub-Committee, and could be up-dated by means of addenda etc. when the need arises;

(b)	the Model Regulations;

(c)	the Manual of Tests and Criteria.

Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods

3.	This publication would contain:

-	the existing Recommendations;

-	Explanatory Material for classification (to be developed);

-	Explanatory Material for assignment of tank instructions (as developed by the Sub-Committee);

-	Basic principles concerning labels and labelling, documentation, etc., and explanatory material if required;

-	Any other material deemed useful by the Committee.

Model Regulations

4.	This publication would consist of the existing annex to the Recommendations.

This is the bulky part of the existing Orange Book, and with the introduction of Class 7 provisions and packing instructions, the size of the next edition is likely to grow significantly beyond the limit normally accepted for one volume (500 pages).

For the 11th edition, it will be necessary to print the Orange Book in two volumes, or as a single loose-leaf format book.

5.	As reprinting a two-volume book in six languages every two years is likely to be a serious burden for the secretariat, and as quite a number of chapters are not likely to be amended that often in the future, the secretariat suggests that the 11th revised edition should be published in a single loose-leaf format book.

Manual of Tests and Criteria

6.	The last edition of the Manual was published in 1995. Very few amendments were adopted in 1996 and should be adopted at this session. However the Manual contains many cross- references to the paragraph numbers of the 9th revised edition of the Orange Book, and these cross-references should be replaced by cross-references to the Model Regulations. Therefore the secretariat suggests that a new version of the Manual should be printed in 1999. As the Manual is not likely to be extensively amended, it is suggested that it should also be printed in a loose-leaf format.

Electronic publishing

7.	The Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods are already available in the form of diskettes.

8.	A navigable version of the 10th revised edition has been prepared on CD-ROM by a private company and other proposals for development of such products in the private sector have been made to the secretariat. At this time, the Secretariat is discussing the possibility of commercializing this version and subsequent versions officially. In view of the growing use of electronic media, the Committee may wish to consider the desirability of circulating the Orange Book through such media and under which conditions (i.e. development of in-house products, in which case a specific budget should be assigned, establishment of a trust fund, cooperation with the private sector, languages, CD-ROM, INTERNET, etc.).

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