Update to the Manual

The UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) has published the first set of amendments to the fifth revised edition of the Manual of Tests & Criteria. The fifth revised edition was published in 2009; unlike the UN Recommendations on the transport of dangerous goods, the Manual is not updated in its entirety every two years and the amendments now published should be used alongside the fifth edition until such time as a sixth revised edition is published.

The first amendment includes those amendments to the fourth revised edition of the Manual that were adopted by the UN Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (TDG) and on the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) at its December 2010 session as well as further corrections adopted by the UN TDG Sub-committee at its 39th session in June 2011.

The amendment constitutes a lengthy and often highly technical document, running to 62 pages. It can be downloaded in its entirety from the UN ECE website at http://www.unece.org/trans/danger/publi/manual/rev5/manrev5-amendments.html. English, French and Spanish language versions are currently available; Arabic, Chinese and Russian versions are planned.

Those subject to the regulations based on the UN Recommendations should be aware that the Manual is not an ‘optional extra’. It sets out the criteria for the classification of substances, mixtures and articles and lays down the methods by which tests must be carried out. Any company that has to classify dangerous goods before shipping must refer to the Manual, and it is also relevant to those who design, manufacture and maintain vehicles and packagings used in the carriage of such substances and articles.

The list of amendments to the fifth revised edition contained in the latest document is extensive. In brief, they cover such topics as:

- the procedure for assignment to a Division of Class 1;

- test series 7 for the classification of extremely insensitive explosive articles;

- a test method for the classification of gases and gas mixtures as chemically unstable;

- the procedures for the classification of lithium metal and lithium ion cells and batteries;

- the variations permitted for the design of multiple-element gas containers (MEGCs) without the need for additional testing; and

- a new appendix 8 detailing the response descriptors to be used for the purposes of test series 7.