Road safety: transport of dangerous goods by road

This Directive is designed to lay down uniform safety rules for transporting dangerous goods* by road within the Community.

ACT

Council Directive 94/55/EC of 21 November 1994 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by road [Official Journal L 319 of 12 December 1994].

SUMMARY

The Directive applies to the transport of dangerous goods by road in the Community. It does not apply to the transport of dangerous goods by vehicles belonging to the armed forces or under the

control of the armed forces. The list of substances considered to be dangerous under the ADR

Agreement is provided in Annex A to the Directive. Annex B sets out provisions concerning transport equipment and transport operations.

In Chapter 2, the text also contains a list of exemptions, derogations and restrictions. Member States may:

• retain existing national legislation for national transport operations performed by vehicles registered within their own territory;
• regulate or prohibit the transport of certain dangerous goods for reasons such as national security or environmental protection;
• apply more stringent provisions regarding transport carried out by vehicles registered or put into circulation within their territory, but not regarding construction requirements;
• adopt more restrictive measures in emergencies, subject to Commission approval;
• retain national provisions for certain classes of substances, as specified in Article 5;
• authorise transport by road of certain dangerous goods for transport operations that include carriage by sea or air (Article 6);
• retain, after consulting the Commission, provisions less stringent than those set out in Annexes A and B for the transport of small quantities of certain dangerous goods;
• grant temporary derogations for the purpose of carrying out, within their territories, any trials necessary for amending these Annexes in order to adapt them to technological and industrial developments.

Vehicles registered or put into circulation in third countries are authorised to carry out international transport operations of dangerous goods within the Community if the transport complies with the ADR, and provided that there are no national or Community restrictions on market access (Article 7).

The Directive does not apply to the transport of dangerous goods by vehicles belonging to the armed forces or under the control of the armed forces.

Directive 94/55/EC is repealed by Directive 2008/68/EC tr0006 as from 30 June 2009.

RELATED ACTS

Commission Decision 2005/263/EC of 4 March 2005 authorising Member States to adopt certain derogations pursuant to Directive 94/55/EC with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by road [Official Journal L 85 of 2 April 2005].

Council Decision 2001/505/EC of 26 June 2001 on the accession of the European Community to United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Regulation No 105 on the approval of vehicles intended for the carriage of dangerous goods with regard to their specific constructional features [Official Journal L 183 of 6 July 2001].

Regulation No 105 is designed to remove technical barriers to trade in motor vehicles, while at the same time ensuring a high level of safety and environmental protection. Accordingly, it is being incorporated into the Community approval system for motor vehicles and thus added to the Community legislation in force in this area.

Commission Decision of 7 November 2002 amending the time-limits within which pressure drums, cylinder racks and tanks for the transport of dangerous goods by road must comply with Council Directive 94/55/EC [Official Journal L 308 of 9 November 2002].

Commission Decision of 20 August 2003 authorising Member States pursuant to Directive 94/55/EC to adopt certain derogations with regard to transport of dangerous goods by road [Official Journal L 221 of 4 September 2003].

Last updated: 24.10.2008