China Strengthens Administration on the Transportation of Dangerous Chemicals   

"Through the revision to regulations on dangerous goods, the Chinese government has made a clearer classification of dangerous goods and issued a series of policies to ensure the safe transportation of dangerous goods," said high-level delegates from the State Administration of Work Safety in the LNOPPEN 2nd Dangerous Goods Transportation and Storage Summit held on April 24th, 2008. The handling of dangerous chemicals in China will follow relevant provisions in the GHS - Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals of the United Nations. Classification administration will be conducted to chemicals according to hazards possibly caused by them. Modifications to the transportation routes and inland water transportation of dangerous goods have been made in the regulations. Clear-cut provisions for after-transportation services have also been defined.
   The key note of the summit shows that in policies for the storage and transportation of dangerous goods the Chinese government is making efforts to get linked to the international standards. Officials attendees of the summit expressed their support to China in the implementation of the GHS. Delegates from domestic enterprises agreed the linkage between Chinese regulations and international practices can help increase the efficiency of procedures such as customs clearance and remove divergences generated from different ways of doing things. Mr. Terry Guo, Managing Director of Asia Bureau of Dangerous Goods, thinks that the implementation of the GHS will have significant implications on the transportation and storage of dangerous goods in China. The revision to the GHS this time is another major action taken by the Chinese government after the revision to the system during 2007/2008. The revision this time covers the transportation and storage of dangerous goods in the two years of 2008 and 2009 and revisions have also been made to ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) and IMDG (International Maritime Dangerous Goods) provisions.
   In the air transportation of dangerous goods, there are some misunderstandings in enterprises of China mainland. For example, most domestic enterprises thought that the air transportation of dangerous goods is totally forbidden in China. To clarify this problem, officials from the Civil Aviation Administration of China said that "27 organizations or firms including airlines and airports have been certified to undertake the air transportation of dangerous goods. The list of these firms has been publicly published on governmental websites. The air transportation of dangerous goods in China is therefore permitted under certain conditions."