What's new in IMDG Amendment 34-08

There are many detailed changes throughout the Dangerous Goods List and the chapters of the code. Below are some of the significant additions and changes.

Additional items in the Dangerous Goods List

i) There are 12 new UN numbers going up to 3481, with explosives going up to 0508.

New UN numbers added in Amendment 34-08
0505	SIGNALS, DISTRESS, ship
0506	SIGNALS, DISTRESS, ship
0507	SIGNALS, SMOKE
0508	1-HYDROXYBENZOTRIAZOLE, ANHYDROUS
3474	1-HYDROXYBENZOTRIAZOLE, ANHYDROUS, WETTED with not less than 20% water, by mass
3475	ETHANOL AND GASOLINE MIXTURE or ETHANOL AND MOTOR SPIRIT MIXTURE or ETHANOL AND PETROL MIXTURE, with more than 10% ethanol
3476	FUEL CELL CARTRIDGES or FUEL CELL CARTRIDGES CONTAINED IN EQUIPMENT or FUEL CELL CARTRIDGES PACKED WITH EQUIPMENT, containing water-reactive substances
3477	FUEL CELL CARTRIDGES or FUEL CELL CARTRIDGES CONTAINED IN EQUIPMENT or FUEL CELL CARTRIDGES PACKED WITH EQUIPMENT, containing corrosive substances
3478	FUEL CELL CARTRIDGES or FUEL CELL CARTRIDGES CONTAINED IN EQUIPMENT or FUEL CELL CARTRIDGES PACKED WITH EQUIPMENT, containing liquefied flammable gas
3479	FUEL CELL CARTRIDGES or FUEL CELL CARTRIDGES CONTAINED IN EQUIPMENT or FUEL CELL CARTRIDGES PACKED WITH EQUIPMENT, containing hydrogen in metal hydride
3480	LITHIUM ION BATTERIES
3481	LITHIUM ION BATTERIES CONTAINED IN EQUIPMENT or LITHIUM ION BATTERIES PACKED WITH EQUIPMENT

ii) There are also 5 UN numbers which were previously not listed in the IMDG Code because they were not regulated under it, but are now shown with the observation “Not subject to the provisions of this Code but may be subject to provisions governing the
transport of dangerous goods by other modes.”

UN Numbers not previously listed in IMDG but have been included in Amendment 34-08
1910	CALCIUM OXIDE
2807	MAGNETIZED MATERIAL
2812	SODIUM ALUMINATE, SOLID
3166	ENGINE, INTERNAL COMBUSTION or VEHICLE, FLAMMABLE GAS POWERED or VEHICLE, FLAMMABLE LIQUID POWERED
3171	BATTERY-POWERED VEHICLE or BATTERY-POWERED EQUIPMENT

Training

Appropriate training for shore-side staff involved with dangerous goods is now mandatory instead of just recommended, and may be audited by the competent authority. Persons not yet trained may only operate under the direct supervision of a trained person. Please see chapter 1.3.1.1 of the IMDG Code Amendment 34-08.

Marine pollutant

The concept of a severe marine pollutant PP is deleted, they are just designated as P. The marine pollutant ‘bullet’ symbol is also deleted, but a shipper might need to declare any consignment as a marine pollutant. There is a new section 2.9.3 describing the criteria, and chapter 2.10 is rewritten. The new marine pollutant label is a dead tree and dead fish.

IMO tank instruction column

The IMO tank instruction column disappears from the Dangerous Goods List because the transitional provisions on their use will have expired by the time this amendment becomes mandatory on 1 January 2010.

Excepted quantities

There is a new column 7b in the Dangerous Goods List for excepted quantities. These are small amounts, up to 30g or 30ml per inner package, 1kg per outer package. These are subject only to the rules of the new chapter 3.5, part 2 (classification) and some sections of 4.1 (packing) and 5.4 (documentation). They will be labeled with an ‘excepted quantity’ label and the class number. The dangerous goods note shall state the words “dangerous goods in excepted quantities” together with the description of the shipment. An entry E0 in column 7b indicates that a substance may not be transported in excepted quantities. Codes E1 to E5 indicate different quantity limits according to a table in chapter 3.5. The total number of excepted quantity packages in a CTU shall not exceed 1000.