Directive 2000/61/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 October 2000 amending Council Directive 94/55/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by road
Date: 2000-10-10
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: approximation of laws, intra-EU transport, organisation of transport, road transport, transport of dangerous goods, transport safety

L 279/40

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

1.11.2000

DIRECTIVE 2000/61/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 10 October 2000

amending Council Directive 94/55/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with
regard to the transport of dangerous goods by road

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 71(1)(c) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

After consulting the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty (3),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

The standardisation work of the European Committee
for Standardisation (CEN) on quality control in the trans-
port of dangerous goods has not yet been completed;
the Commission cannot therefore make a report on the
subject at present; it is therefore necessary to amend the
deadline laid down in the fourth subparagraph of Article
1(2) of Directive 94/55/EC (4).

The work of the United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE) on the provisions concerning the
centres of gravity of tank-vehicles laid down in Annex B
to the European Agreement concerning the International
Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) has not
yet been completed; it is therefore necessary to amend
the deadline laid down in Article 5(3)(b) of Directive
94/55/EC.

A provision should be included to allow certain Member
States, because of their climatic conditions, to apply
stricter standards relating to certain equipment used in
transport.

The standardisation work of the CEN on receptacles and
tanks has not yet been completed; it is therefore neces-
sary to amend the deadlines laid down in Article 6(4) of
Directive 94/55/EC.

It is necessary to ensure consistency between the provi-
sions of Directive 94/55/EC and the amendments
required to adapt the annexes thereto to scientific and
technical progress.

(1) OJ C 171, 18.6.1999, p. 17.
(2) OJ C 329, 17.11.1999, p. 10.
(3) European Parliament Opinion of 18 January 2000 (not yet
published in the Official Journal), Council Common Position of 26
June 2000 (OJ C 245, 25.8.2000, p. 7) and European Parliament
Decision of 26 September 2000.

(4) OJ L 319, 12.12.1994, p. 7. Directive as last amended by Commis-

sion Directive 1999/47/EC (OJ L 169, 5.7.1999, p. 1).

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

The deadlines laid down in Article 6(4) of Directive
94/55/EC regarding certain equipment should be put
back; identifying the equipment concerned and the latest
date for the application of Directive 94/55/EC should be
made subject to the procedure laid down in Article 9
thereof.

The derogation provided for in Article 6(9) of Directive
94/55/EC should be made subject to the procedure laid
down in Article 9 thereof.

Member States should be allowed to adopt derogations
with regard to local transport operations and author-
isation for that purpose should be made subject to the
procedure laid down in Article 9 of Directive 94/55/EC.

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down
the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers
conferred on the Commission (5).

(10)

The conditions to be fulfilled before a transport opera-
tion may be regarded as an ad hoc transport operation
should be specified.

(11) Directive 94/55/EC should be amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Directive 94/55/EC is hereby amended as follows:

1.

in Article 1(2), point (c) shall be replaced by the following:

‘(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 provi-
sions.

At the latest two years after the entry into force of a
European standard on quality control in the transport of
dangerous goods, the Commission shall submit to the
European Parliament and the Council a report assessing
the safety aspects covered by this point together with an
appropriate proposal for its continuation or repeal’;

(5) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

1.11.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 279/41

2. Article 5 shall be amended as follows:

(a) In paragraph 2, ‘by Marginal 10 599 of Annex B’ shall
be replaced by ‘by the special provision referred to in
paragraph 2 of Annex C’.

(b) In paragraph 3:

— subparagraph (b) shall be replaced by the following:

‘(b) Member States may, however, maintain their
specific national provisions on the centres of
gravity of tank-vehicles registered within their
territories until the amendment, if any, of the
special provision referred to in paragraph 3 of
Annex C, but not, in any event, after 30 June
2001 in the case of tank-vehicles covered by the
special provision referred to in paragraph 3 of
in accordance with the amended
Annex C,
version of the ADR applicable as from 1 July
2001 and not, in any event, after 30 June 2005
in the case of other tank-vehicles.’;

— the following subparagraph shall be added:

‘(c) Member States in which the ambient tempera-
ture is regularly lower than – 20 °C may impose
more stringent standards as regards the oper-
ating temperature of materials used for plastic
packaging, tanks and their equipment intended
for use in the national transport of dangerous
goods by road within their territory until provi-
sions on the appropriate reference temperatures
for given climatic zones are incorporated in the
Annexes.’;

3. Article 6 shall be amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:

‘3. Within its
territory each Member State may
authorise the use of vehicles constructed before 1
January 1997 which do not comply with this Directive,
but were constructed in accordance with national
requirements in force on 31 December 1996 provided
that such vehicles 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 trans-
port until a date determined in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 9.’;

(b) paragraph 4 shall be replaced by the following:

‘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 provision
referred to in paragraph 4 of Annex C and new tanks
which do not comply with Annexes A and B, until
references to standards for the construction and use of

tanks and receptacles with the same binding force as the
provisions of this Directive are added to Annexes A and
B and in any event no later than 30 June 2001. Recep-
tacles and tanks constructed before 1 July 2001 and
maintained to the required safety levels 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 references to the appropriate
European standards have been added to Annexes 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 procedure
laid down in Article 9.’;

(c) at the end of paragraph 6 the following shall be added:

‘..., except that in the case of plastic packaging not
exceeding twenty litres in capacity, that date may be put
back to 30 June 2001 at the latest’

(d) paragraph 9 shall be replaced by the following:

‘9.
Provided they give the Commission advance noti-
fication 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, Member
States may adopt provisions that are less stringent than
those in 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, Member States may
adopt provisions different from those contained in the
Annexes in respect of local transport limited to their
territory.

The derogations provided for in the first and second
subparagraphs shall be applied without discrimination.

the

Notwithstanding
above, Member States may,
provided they give the Commission advance noti-
fication, at any time adopt provisions similar to provi-
sions adopted by other Member States with reference to
this paragraph.

The Commission shall examine whether the conditions
laid down in this paragraph have been met and shall
decide, in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 9, whether the Member States concerned may
adopt these derogations.’;

(e) in the second subparagraph of paragraph 10,

‘of
Marginals 2 010 and 10 602 of Annexes A and B’ shall
be replaced by ‘of the special provisions referred to in
paragraph 5 of Annex C’;

L 279/42

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

1.11.2000

(f) paragraph 11 shall be replaced by the following:

Article 2

‘11.
The Member States may issue authorisations,
valid for their territory only, to carry out ad hoc trans-
port operations of dangerous goods which are either
prohibited by Annex A or B or are performed under
conditions different
from those laid down in those
Annexes, on condition that these ad hoc transport opera-
tions are clearly defined and limited in time’;

(g) in paragraph 12,

‘Marginals 2 010 and 10 602 of
Annexes A and B’ shall be replaced by ‘the special
provisions referred to in paragraph 5 of Annex C’;

4.

in Article 8,
‘Annexes A, B and C’;

‘Annexes A and B’ shall be replaced by

5. Article 9 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 9

The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee on

1.
the transport of dangerous goods.

2. Where reference is made to this Article, Articles 5 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply having regard to the
provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period referred to Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at three months.

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations
and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this
Directive before 1 May 2001. They shall forthwith inform the
Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain
a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such
reference on the occasion of their official publication. The
methods of making such reference shall be adopted by the
Member States.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the
text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in
the field governed by this Directive.

Article 3

This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publica-
tion in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Article 4

Done at Luxembourg, 10 October 2000.

3.

The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.’;

For the European Parliament

For the Council

6. the text set out in the Annex to this Directive, shall be

added as Annex C.

The President

N. FONTAINE

The President

D. VOYNET

1.11.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 279/43

ANNEX

‘ANNEX C

Special provisions relating to certain Articles of this Directive

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 capacity 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 10 599 of Annex B.

3. The special provision applicable to Article 5(3)(b) is Marginal 211 128 of Annex B.

4. The special provision applicable to Article 6(4) is Marginal 2 211 of Annex A.

5. The special provisions applicable to Article 6(10) and (12) are Marginals 2 010 and 10 602 of Annexes A and B.’