Article 1 
1. This Directive shall apply to checks carried out by Member States on the transport of dangerous goods by road in vehicles travelling in their territory or entering it from a third country. It shall not apply to the transport 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 carry out checks on the national and international transport of dangerous goods within their territories performed by vehicles not covered by this Directive.
Article 2 
For the purposes of this Directive: — ‘vehicle’ shall mean any motor vehicle intended for use on the road, whether complete or incomplete, which has at least four wheels and a maximum design speed exceeding 25 km/h, together with its trailers, with the exception of vehicles which run on rails, of agricultural and forestry tractors and of all mobile machinery, — ‘dangerous goods’ shall mean dangerous goods defined as such in Directive 94/55/EC, — ‘transport’ shall mean any road transport operation performed by a vehicle wholly or partly on public roads within the territory of a Member State, including the loading and unloading of goods covered by Directive 94/55/EC, without prejudice to the arrangements laid down by the laws of the Member States concerning liability in respect of such operations, — ‘undertaking’ shall mean any natural or legal person, whether or not profit-seeking, any association or group of persons without legal personality, whether or not profit-seeking, and any body coming under a public authority, whether itself possessing legal personality or dependent on an authority having such personality, which carry, load or unload dangerous goods or cause them to be carried and those which temporarily store, collect, package or take delivery of such goods as part of a transport operation and are located in the territory of the Community, — ‘check’ shall mean any check, control, inspection, verification or formality carried out by the competent authorities for reasons of safety inherent in the transport of dangerous goods.
Article 3 
1. The Member States shall ensure that a representative proportion of consignments of dangerous goods transported by road is subject to the checks laid down by this Directive, in order to check their compliance with the laws on the transport of dangerous goods by road. 2. Such checks shall be carried out in the territory of a Member State in accordance with Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 4060/89 and Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 3912/92.
Article 4 
1. In order to carry out the checks provided for in this Directive, the Member States shall use the checklist in Annex I. A copy of this checklist or a certificate showing the result of the check drawn up by the authority which carried it out shall be given to the driver of the vehicle and presented on request in order to simplify or avoid, where possible, subsequent checks. This paragraph shall not prejudice Member States' right to carry out specific measures for detailed checks. 2. The checks shall be random and shall as far as possible cover an extensive portion of the road network. 3. The places chosen for these checks must permit infringing vehicles to be brought into compliance or, if the authority carrying out the check deems it appropriate to be immobilized on-the-spot or at a place desginated for that purpose by the said authority without causing a safety hazard. 4. Where appropriate and provided that this does not constitute a safety hazard, samples of the goods transported may be taken for examination by laboratories recognized by the competent authority. 5. Checks shall not exceed a reasonable length of time.
Article 5 
Without prejudice to other penalties which may be imposed, vehicles in respect of which one or more infringements of the rules on the transport of dangerous goods, in particular infringements listed in Annex II, are established may be immobilized either on-the-spot or at a place designated for this purpose by the authorities carrying out the check and required to be brought into conformity before continuing their journey or may be subject to other appropriate measures, depending on the circumstances or the requirements of safety including, where appropriate, refusal to allow such vehicles to enter the Community.
Article 6 
1. Checks may also be carried out at the premises of undertakings, as a preventive measure or where infringements which jeopardize safety in the transport of dangerous goods have been recorded at the roadside. 2. The purpose of such checks shall be to ensure that safety conditions for the transport of dangerous goods by road comply with the relevant laws. Where one or more infringements, in particular those listed in Annex II, have been established in respect of the transport of dangerous goods by road, the transport in question shall be brought into conformity before the goods leave the undertaking or shall be subject to other appropriate measures.
Article 7 
1. Member States shall assist one another in order to give proper effect to this Directive. 2. Serious or repeated infringements jeopardizing the safety of the transport of dangerous goods committed by a non-resident vehicle or undertaking must be reported to the competent authorites in the Member State in which the vehicle is registered or in which the undertaking is established. The competent authorities of the Member State in which serious or repeated infringements have been recorded may ask the competent authorities of the Member State in which the vehicle is registered or in which the undertaking is established for appropriate measures to be taken with regard to the offender or offenders. The latter competent authorities shall notify the competent authorities of the Member State in which the infringements were recorded of any measures taken with regard to the transporter or the undertaking.
Article 8 
If the findings of a roadside check on a vehicle registered in another Member State give grounds for believing that serious or repeated infringements have been committed which cannot be detected in the course of that check in the absence of the necessary data, the competent authorities of the Member States concerned shall assist one another in order to clarify the situation. Where, to that end, the competent Member State carries out a check in the undertaking, the other Member States concerned shall be notified of the results.
Article 9 
1. Each Member State shall send the Commission for each calendar year not later than twelve months after the end of that year a report, drawn up in accordance with the model in Annex III, on the application of this Directive, including the following particulars: — if possible, determined or estimated volume of dangerous goods transported by road (in tonnes transported or in tonnes/kilometres), — number of checks carried out, — number of vehicles checked by place of registration (vehicles registered nationally, in other Member States or in third countries), — number and types of infringements recorded, — type and number of penalties imposed. 2. The Commission shall send the European Parliament and the Council, for the first time in 1999 and subsequently at least every three years, a report on the application of this Directive by the Member States, stating the particulars in accordance with paragraph 1 above.
Article 9a 
The Commission shall adapt the Annexes to scientific and technical progress in the fields covered by this Directive, in particular to take account of amendments to Directive 94/55/EC. Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 9b(2).
Article 9b 
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee on the Transport of Dangerous Goods set up by Article 9 of Directive 94/55/EC. 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5a(1) to (4) and Article 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.
Article 10 
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 1 January 1997. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof. When these provisions are adopted by the Member States, 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 laid down by the Member States. 2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the essential provisions of domestic law which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.
Article 11 
This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
Article 12 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.