1994L0055 — EN — 21.02.2001 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCILDIRECTIVE94/55/EC
of21November1994
ontheapproximationofthelawsoftheMemberStateswithregardtothetransportofdangerous
goodsbyroad
(OJ L 319, 12.12.1994, p. 7)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Annexes A and B to Council Directive 94/55/EC of 21 November 1994 L 275 1 28.10.1996
►M2Commission Directive 96/86/EC of 13 December 1996 L 335 43 24.12.1996
►M3Amendments to Annexes A and B of Council Directive 94/55/EC as
announced in Commission 96/86/ECL 251 1 15.9.1997
►M4Commission Directive 1999/47/EC of 21 May 1999 L 169 1 5.7.1999
►M5Directive 2000/61/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
10 October 2000L 279 40 1.11.2000
►M6Commission Directive 2001/7/EC of 29 January 2001 L 30 43 1.2.2001
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, OJ L 301, 14.12.1995, p. 47 (94/55/EC)
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COUNCILDIRECTIVE94/55/EC
of21November1994
ontheapproximationofthelawsoftheMemberStateswithregard
tothetransportofdangerousgoodsbyroad
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, andin particular Article 75 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (
1),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of
the Treaty (3),
(1)Whereas, over the years, both the national and the internationaltransport of dangerous goods by road have significantly
increased, adding to the dangers in the event of an accident;
(2)Whereas all Member States except Ireland are Contracting
Parties to the European Agreement concerning the International
Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR), the geographical
scope of which extends beyond the Community and which laysdown uniform rules for the safe international transport ofdangerous goods by road; whereas it is consequently desirablethat such rules be extended to cover national traffic in order toharmonize across the Community the conditions under which
dangerous goods are transported by road;
(3)Whereas no Community legislation embraces the full range of
measures required to ensure the safe transport of dangerous
goods and the relevant national measures vary from one Member
State to another; whereas those divergences are an obstacle tothe free provision of transport services and, moreover, to thefree movement of vehicles and transport equipment; whereas inorder to overcome that obstacle uniform rules applicable to allintra-Community transport should be defined;
(4)Whereas an action of this nature must be carried out at Commu-nity level to ensure consistency with other Communitylegislation, to ensure a satisfactory degree of harmonization tofacilitate the free movement of goods and services and to ensure
a high level of safety for national and international transport
operations;
(5)Whereas the provisions of this Directive are without prejudice to
the commitment entered into by the Community and its Member
States, in accordance with the goals set under Agenda 21,Chapter 19, at the Unced conference of June 1992 in Rio deJaneiro, to strive for the future harmonization of systems for theclassification of dangerous substances;
(6)Whereas no specific Community legislation yet governs thesafety conditions under which biological agents and geneticallymodified micro-organisms, regulated under Council Directives90/219/EEC (
4), 90/220/EEC (5) and 90/679/EEC (6), should be
transported;1994L0055 — EN — 21.02.2001 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 17, 20. 1. 1994, p. 6.
(2) OJ No C 195, 18. 7. 1994, p. 15.
(3) European Parliament opinion of 3 May 1994 (OJ No C 205, 25. 7. 1994, p.
54), Council common position of 19 September 1994 (OJ No C 301, 27. 10.1994, p. 25) and European Parliament decision of 17 November 1994 (not
yet published in the Official Journal).
(
4) OJ No L 117, 8. 5. 1990, p. 1.
(5) OJ No L 117, 8. 5. 1990, p. 15.
(6) OJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1990, p. 1.
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(7)Whereas this Directive takes account of other Community poli-
cies in the fields of worker safety, vehicle construction and
environmental protection;
(8)Whereas the Member States remain free to regulate any opera-
tion for the transport of dangerous goods carried out within
their territory by a vehicle not covered by the Directive regard-less of where the vehicle is registered;
(9)Whereas the Member States must be able to apply specific road-traffic regulations to the transport of dangerous goods withintheir territories;
(10)Whereas the Member States must be able to maintain theirquality-control requirements as regards certain national transportoperations until the Commission reports to the Council on thesematters;
(11)Whereas the provisions of the ADR authorize the conclusion ofagreements derogating therefrom, and whereas the large numberof agreements concluded bilaterally between Member Statesimpedes the free provisions of dangerous-goods transport
services; whereas including the necessary provisions in the
Annexes to this Directive should overcome the need for suchderogations; whereas provision should be made for a transitionalperiod during which the Member States may continue to applyexisting agreements amongst themselves;
(12)Whereas it is necessary to transpose into Community law theprovisions of the ADR, including the requirements concerningthe construction of vehicles transporting dangerous goods;
whereas, in this context, provision should be made for a transi-
tional period so that the Member States may temporarilymaintain certain specific national provisions on constructionrequirements for nationally registered vehicles;
(13)Whereas existing information procedures in the field of relatednational legislative proposals must be used in order to increasetransparency for all economical operators;
(14)Whereas as regards national transport, the Member States mustretain the right to apply rules complying with the United Nationsmultimodal Recommendations on the Transport of DangerousGoods, in so far as the ADR is not yet harmonized with thoserules, the purpose of which is to facilitate the inter-modal trans-
port of dangerous goods;
(15)Whereas the Member States must be able to regulate or prohibitthe transport by road of certain dangerous goods within their
territories, but only for reasons other than transport safety;whereas in this context the Member States may retain the rightin the case of certain transports of very dangerous substances toimpose the use of transport by rail or inland waterway or maymaintain very specific packaging for certain very dangerous
substances;
(16)Whereas for the purposes of this Directive the Member States
must be able to apply more stringent or more lenient rules to
certain transport operations performed within their territories by
means of vehicles registered there;
(17)Whereas the harmonization of conditions should take account of
specific national circumstances and therefore this Directive must
be sufficiently flexible in providing the Member States with thepossibility of granting certain derogations; whereas the applica-tion of new technological and industrial developments must notbe impeded and provision must therefore be made for temporary
derogations;
(18)Whereas vehicles registered in non-member countries must be
allowed to perform international transport within the territories
of Member States if they comply with the ADR;
(19)Whereas it must be possible to adapt this Directive rapidly to
technical progress, in order to take account of new provisions1994L0055 — EN — 21.02.2001 — 001.001 — 3
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incorporated in the ADR and to decide upon the application and
implementation of emergency measures in the event of accidentsor incidents; whereas a committee should be created for that
purpose and a procedure should be established for close coopera-
tion between the Member States and the Commission within thatcommittee;
(20)Whereas the Annexes to this Directive contain provisionscovering the vocational training of certain drivers of vehiclestransporting dangerous goods by road; whereas, therefore,
Council Directive 89/684/EEC of 21 December 1994 on voca-
tional training for certain drivers of vehicles carrying dangerousgoods by road (
1) should be repealed,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
CHAPTER I
Scope,definitionsandgeneral provisions
Article 1
1. This Directive shall apply to the transport of dangerous goods by
road within or between Member States. It shall not apply to the trans-port of dangerous goods by vehicles belonging to or under the
responsibility of the armed forces.
2. This Directive shall not, however, affect the Member States' right,
with due regard to Community law, to lay down requirements asregards:
(a) the national and international transport of dangerous goods within
their territories performed by vehicles not covered by this Direc-tive,
(b) road-traffic regulations specific to the national and international
transport of dangerous goods;
(c) quality controls on undertakings where they carry out national
transport operations as indicated in paragraph 1 of Annex C.
The scope of the national provisions concerning the requirements
set out in this point may not be extended.
The provisions in question shall cease to apply if similar measures
are made obligatory under Community provisions.
At the latest two years after the entry into force of a European stan-
dard on quality control in the transport of dangerous goods, the
Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and theCouncil a report assessing the safety aspects covered by this pointtogether with an appropriate proposal for its continuation or repeal.
The scope of the national provisions concerning these requirements
may not be extended.
The provisions in question shall cease to apply if similar measures are
made obligatory under Community provisions.
Before 31 December 1998 the Commission shall submit to the Council
a report assessing the safety aspects covered by this provision togetherwith an appropriate proposal for its continuation or repeal.1994L0055 — EN — 21.02.2001 — 001.001 — 4
(1) OJ No L 398, 30. 12. 1989, p. 33.▼M5
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Article 2
For the purposes of this Directive:
— ‘ADR’ shall mean the European Agreement concerning the Interna-
tional Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road, concluded at Genevaon 30 September 1957, as amended,
— ‘vehicle’ shall mean any motor vehicle intended for use on the
road, being complete or incomplete, having at least four wheels
and a maximum design speed exceeding 25 km/h, and its trailers,
with the exception of vehicles which run on rails, and of agricul-tural and forestry tractors and all mobile machinery,
— ‘dangerous goods’ shall mean those substances and articles the
transport of which by road is prohibited or authorized only in
certain circumstances by Annexes A and B to this Directive,
— ‘transport’ shall mean any road transport operation performed by a
vehicle wholly or partly on public roads within the territory of aMember State, including the activity of loading and unloading,
covered by Annexes A and B, without prejudice to the arrange-
ments laid down by the laws of the Member States' concerningliability in respect of such operations.
It shall not include transport wholly performed within the perimeter
of an enclosed area.
Article 3
1. Without prejudice to Article 6, dangerous goods the transport of
which is prohibited by Annexes A and B to this Directive shall not be
transported by road.
2. Save as otherwise provided in this Directive, the transport of
other dangerous goods listed in Annex A shall be authorized subject
to compliance with the conditions imposed in Annexes A and B, in
particular as regards:
(a) the packaging and labelling of the goods in question; and
(b) the construction, equipment and proper operation of the vehicle
carrying the goods in question.
CHAPTER II
Derogations,restrictions andexemptions
Article 4
Solely for the purposes of national transport operations performed by
vehicles registered within its territory each Member State may retain
provisions of its national law on the transport of dangerous goods byroad which are consistent with the UN Recommendations on the Trans-port of Dangerous Goods until Anexes A and B to this Directive arerevised to reflect those recommendations. The Member States
concerned shall inform the Commission accordingly.
Article 5
1. Without prejudice to other Community legislation, in paticular
that on market access, each Member State shall retain the right, strictly
for reasons other than safety during transport, such as reasons ofnational security or environmental protection, to regulate or prohibitthe transport of certain dangerous goods within its territory.
2. Any rules imposed by a Member State on vehicles performing
internaitonal transport through its territory and authorized ►
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the special provision referred to in paragraph 2 of Annex C ◄shall
be limited in scope locally, shall apply to both national and interna-tional transport and may not result in any discrimination.1994L0055 — EN — 21.02.2001 — 001.001 — 5
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3. (a) Each Member State may apply more stringent provisions
concerning transport, with the exception of construction require-ments, performed by vehicles registered or put into circulation
within its territory.
(b) Member States may, however, maintain their specific national
provisions on the centres of gravity of tank-vehicles registeredwithin their territories until the amendment, if any, of the specialprovision referred to in paragraph 3 of Annex C, but not, in anyevent, after 30 June 2001 in the case of tank-vehicles covered by
the special provision referred to in paragraph 3 of Annex C, in
accordance with the amended version of the ADR applicable asfrom 1 July 2001 and not, in any event, after 30 June 2005 inthe case of other tank-vehicles.
(c) Member States in which the ambient temperature is regularly
lower than – 20 ºC may impose more stringent standards asregards the operating temperature of materials used for plasticpackaging, tanks and their equipment intended for use in the
national transport of dangerous goods by road within their terri-
tory until provisions on the appropriate reference temperaturesfor given climatic zones are incorporated in the Annexes.
4. If a Member State considers that the safety provisions applicable
have been found to be insufficient, on the occasion of an accident or anincident, to limit the hazards involved in transport and if there is anurgent need to take action, it shall notify the Commission, at the plan-ning stage, of the measures which it proposes to take. Acting inaccordance with the procedure laid down in Article 9, the Commission
shall decide whether the implementation of those measures should be
authorized and determine their duration.
5. The Member States may maintain any national provisions applic-
able on 31 December 1996 with regard to:
— the transport of Class 1.1 substances,
— the transport of toxic, unstable and/or flammable gases of Class 2,
— the transport of substances containing dioxins or furans,
— the transport in tanks or tank-containers of more than 3 000 litres of
liquids of Classes 3, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 6.1 or 8 which do not appearunder (b) or (c) in these classes.
Such provisions may concern only:
— the prohibition of such transport operations by road where it is
possible for them to be carried out by rail or by inland waterway,
— a requirement to follow certain preferred routes,— any other provisions concerning the packaging of substances
containing dioxins or furans.
These provisions may not be extended or made more stringent. The
Member States shall communicate these national provisions to theCommission, which shall inform the other Member States accordingly.
Article 6
1. Each Member State may authorize the transport by road within its
territory of dangerous goods classified, packaged and labelled in accor-dance with the international requirements for maritime or air transportwhenever the transport operation involves a sea or air voyage.
2. Any provisions in Annexes A and B concerning the use of
languages in relevant marking or documentation shall not apply totransport operations confined to the territory of a single Member State.Member States may authorize the use of languages other than thoseprovided for in the Annexes for transport operations performed withintheir territories.1994L0055 — EN — 21.02.2001 — 001.001 — 6
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3. Within its territory each Member State may authorise the use of
vehicles constructed before 1 January 1997 which do not comply withthis Directive, but were constructed in accordance with national
requirements in force on 31 December 1996 provided that such vehi-
cles are maintained to the required safety levels.
Tanks and vehicles constructed on or after 1 January 1997 which do
not comply with Annex B but were constructed in accordance with
the requirements of this Directive that were applicable on the date of
their construction may continue to be used for national transport untila date determined in accordance with the procedure laid down inArticle 9.
4. Each Member State may maintain its national provisions in force
on 31 December 1996 relating to the construction, use and conditions
of carriage of new receptacles within the meaning of the special provi-sion referred to in paragraph 4 of Annex C and new tanks which do notcomply with Annexes A and B, until references to standards for theconstruction and use of tanks and receptacles with the same bindingforce as the provisions of this Directive are added to Annexes A and
B and in any event no later than 30 June 2001. Receptacles and tanks
constructed before 1 July 2001 and maintained to the required safetylevels may continue to be used under the original conditions.
These dates shall be put back for receptacles and tanks for which there
are no detailed technical requirements or for which no sufficient refer-
ences to the appropriate European standards have been added toAnnexes A and B.
The receptacles and tanks referred to in the second subparagraph and
the latest date for the application of this Directive as regards those
receptacles and tanks shall be determined in accordance with the proce-
dure laid down in Article 9.
5. Each Member State may maintain national provisions other than
those set out in Annexes A and B with regard to the reference tempera-ture for the transport within its territory of liquified gases or mixturesof liquified gases until provisions relating to appropriate referencetemperatures for designated climatic areas are incorporated into
European standards and references to those standards are added to
Annexes A and B.
6. Each Member State may allow the use, for transport within its
territory, of packagings constructed but not certified in accordancewith the ADR before 1 January 1997 provided that such packaging
shows the date of manufacture and is capable of passing the tests laid
down in national legislation in force on 31 December 1996 andprovided that all such packagings are maintained to the relevant safetylevels (including testing and inspection where required), in accordancewith the following scheme: intermediate metal bulk containers andmetal drums exceeding 50 litres in capacity, for up to 15 years after
their date of manufacture; other metal packagings and all plastics
packagings, for up to five years after their ►
C1date of manufacture
but not after 31 December 1998 ◄►M5, except that in the case of
plastic packaging not exceeding twenty litres in capacity, that date maybe put back to 30 June 2001 at the latest ◄.
7. Each Member State may allow the transport within its territory of
certain dangerous goods packaged before 1 January 1997 until 31December 1998, provided that the goods are classified, packaged andlabelled in accordance with the requirements of national legislation inforce before 1 January 1997.
8. Each Member State may maintain provisions of national legisla-
tion in force on 31 December 1996 relating to the display of anemergency action code in place of the hazard identification numberprovided for in Annex B for transport operations performed within itsterritory by vehicles registered within that territory.
9. Provided they give the Commission advance notification no later
than 31 December 2002 or until two years after the last date of appli-1994L0055 — EN — 21.02.2001 — 001.001 — 7
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cation of amended versions of Annexes A and B to this Directive,
Member States may adopt provisions that are less stringent than thosein the Annexes for the transport within their territory only of small
quantities of certain dangerous goods, with the exception of substances
having a medium or high level of radioactivity.
Provided they give the Commission advance notification no later than
31 December 2002 or until two years after the last date of application
of amended versions of Annexes A and B to this Directive, MemberStates may adopt provisions different from those contained in theAnnexes in respect of local transport limited to their territory.
The derogations provided for in the first and second subparagraphs
shall be applied without discrimination.
Notwithstanding the above, Member States may, provided they give the
Commission advance notification, at any time adopt provisions similar
to provisions adopted by other Member States with reference to thisparagraph.
The Commission shall examine whether the conditions laid down in
this paragraph have been met and shall decide, in accordance with theprocedure laid down in Article 9, whether the Member Statesconcerned may adopt these derogations.
10. Provided that safety is not compromised, the Member States
may grant temporary derogations from Annexes A and B for the
purpose of carrying out within their territories the trials necessarybefore the amendment of those Annexes to adapt them to technologicaland industrial developments. The Commission shall be informedthereof and shall inform the other Member States accordingly.
A temporaty derogation agreed on between Member States' competent
authorities on the basis ►
M5of the special provisions referred to in
paragraph 5 of Annex C ◄shall take the form of a multilateral agree-
ment proposed to all Member States' competent authorities by the
authority taking the initiative in respect of the agreement. The
Commission shall be informed accordingly.
Any derogation such as referred to in the first and second subpara-
graphs shall be applied without discrimination on grounds of the
nationality or the place of establishment of the consignor, haulier orconsignee; they may last for upto five years and shall not be renew-able.
11. The Member States may issue authorisations, valid for their
territory only, to carry out ad hoc transport operations of dangerous
goods which are either prohibited by Annex A or B or are performedunder conditions different from those laid down in those Annexes, oncondition that these ad hoctransport operations are clearly defined and
limited in time.
12. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, each Member State may until
31 December 1998 at the latest apply existing agreements with otherMember States that comply with the ADR, without discrimination ongrounds of the nationality or the place of establishment of theconsignor, haulier or consignee. Any other derogation authorized by
►
M5the special provisions referred to in paragraph 5 of Annex
C◄shall comply with paragraph 10.
Article 7
Subject to national or Community provisions on market access, vehi-
cles registered or put into circulation in non-member countries shallbe authorized to perform the international transport of dangerous goodswithin the Community if the transport in question complies with theADR.1994L0055 — EN — 21.02.2001 — 001.001 — 8
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CHAPTER III
Finalprivisions
Article 8
The amendments necessary to adapt ►M5Annexes A, B and C ◄to
scientific and technical progress in the fields covered by this Directivein order to take account of amendments to the Annexes to the ADR
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
9.
Article 9
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee on the trans-
port of dangerous goods.
2. Where reference is made to this Article, Articles 5 and 7 of Deci-
sion 1999/468/EC shall apply having regard to the provisions of Article8 thereof.
The period referred to Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be
set at three months.
3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Article 10
1. The Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations
and administrative provisions necessary for them to comply with thisDirective before 1 January 1997. They shall forthwith inform theCommission thereof.
When the Member States adopt those measures they shall include refer-
ences or shall accompany them with such references on their official
publication. The Member States shall lay down the manner in which
such references shall be made.
2. The Member States shall communicate to the Commission the
texts of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in thefield governed by this Directive.
Article 11
1. Directive 89/684/EEC is hereby repealed as from the deadline for
the transposition of this Directive into national legislation.
2. Provisional certificates issued by the Member States in accor-
dance with Article 4 (2) of that Directive for national transport only
shall remain valid until 31 December 1996. Certificates issued in
accordance with Article 4 (4) of that Directive may continue to beused until the end of their period of validity, but not later than 1 July1997 for dangerous goods transported in tanks or for explosives andnot later than 1 January 2000 for other dangerous goods.
Article 12
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.1994L0055 — EN — 21.02.2001 — 001.001 — 9
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ANNEXA
Provisions ofAnnexA to the EuropeanAgreement concerning the interna-
tional carriage of dangerous goods by road (ADR) as in force from 1 July
2001,‘Member State’beingsubstitutedfor‘ContractingParty’
NB:The consolidated text of the 2001 version of Annex A to the ADR will be
published as soon as the text is available in all the official languages of the
Community.1994L0055 — EN — 21.02.2001 — 001.001 — 10
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ANNEXB
Provisions of AnnexB to the EuropeanAgreement concerning the interna-
tional carriage of dangerous goods by road (ADR) as in force from 1 July
2001,‘Member State’beingsubstitutedfor‘ContractingParty’
NB:The consolidated text of the 2001 version of Annex B to the ADR will be
published as soon as the text is available in all the official languages of the
Community.1994L0055 — EN — 21.02.2001 — 001.001 — 11
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ANNEXC
SpecialprovisionsrelatingtocertainArticles ofthisDirective
1. The national transport operations referred to in Article 1(2)(c) are as follows:
(i) explosive substances and articles in Class 1, where the quantity of
explosive substance contained per transport unit exceeds:
— 1 000 kg for division 1.1, or
— 3 000 kg for division 1.2, or
— 5 000 kg for divisions 1.3 and 1.5;
(ii) the following substances in tanks or in tank containers of a total capa-
city exceeding 3 000 litres:
— substances in Class 2: gas assigned to the following risk groups: F,
T, TF, TC, TO, TFC, TOC;
— substances in Classes 3, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1 and 8: substances
not listed under (b) or (c) in those classes or listed therein but having
a hazard code with three or more significant digits (not including
any zero);
(iii) the following packages of Class 7 (radioactive materials): packages of
fissile materials, packages of type B (U), package of type B (M).
2. The special provision applicable to Article 5(2) is Marginal 10599 of Annex
B.
3. The special provision applicable to Article 5(3)(b) is Marginal 211128 of
Annex B.
4. The special provision applicable to Article 6(4) is Marginal 2211 of Annex
A.
5. The special provisions applicable to Article 6(10) and (12) are Marginals
2 010 and 10602 of Annexes A and B.1994L0055 — EN — 21.02.2001 — 001.001 — 12