About the Sector

Transport of dangerous goods

Transport of dangerous goods is one of the most difficult and broad areas of the overall system of carriage of goods where especially stringent safety requirement are applied. The statistics reveal that dangerous goods account for nearly 50% of all the goods transported in Lithuania and approximately 70% of all the carried dangerous goods were transit goods.

International regulations

In 1950, the United Nations established the Committee of Experts (COE) on Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods (STDG). This Committee drafted recommendations on the transport of dangerous goods for all types of transport. These recommendations (also known as the Orange Paper) do not have a status of a legal act, but the main regulations regulating the carriage of dangerous goods are prepared on the basis of these recommendations:

• European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR);

• Appendix C “Regulations concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail (RID)” of the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF);

• Annex 2 “Regulations Concerning Carriage of Dangerous Goods” of the Agreement on International Goods Transport by Rail (SMGS);

• Annex 18 “The Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air” to the International Civil Aviation Convention and the associated document “Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air”;

• International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code);

• International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk (IBC Code);

• International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk (IGC Code).

Taking into consideration the increasing volume of transport of dangerous goods and seeking to ensure safety of carriage of this type of goods, the Republic of Lithuania has acceded to the aforementioned conventions, except for the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Inland Waterways (ADN).

EU policy regarding the issues of inland transport of dangerous goods

The European Union policy and provisions regarding the transport of dangerous goods are laid down in the Directive 2008/68/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 September 2008 on the inland transport of dangerous goods. This EU legal act stipulates that dangerous goods shall be transported in the territories of the Member States by road and by rail in compliance with international documents (see International regulation).