On December 1^st, 2020, Mr. Wu Jinzhong from the Highway Research Institute under the Ministry of Transport (MOT) introduced the highlights of the Measures for Safety Administration of Road Transport of Dangerous Goods ^[1], which was introduced in late 2019 and took effect on January 1^st this year (for more details, see CL news ^[2]), at CRAC-HCF 2020 ^[3]. Notably, he laid particular emphasis on the exemption granted to dangerous goods packed in limited quantities (LQ) and excepted quantities (EQ) in the Measures.

In recent years, the transport of dangerous goods with low hazards and in small quantities has always been a topic of heated discussion in the industry. If such goods can be transported using reliable and durable packages or following certain conditions, they will pose much less danger. In response to such discussions, the Measures authorities state that “dangerous goods can be transported as general goods if the number of packages of dangerous goods packed in EQ does not exceed 1000, or the gross mass (packages included) of dangerous goods packed in LQ carried does not exceed 8 tons per transport unit”.

With this exemption system, the Measures manages to significantly lower the transportation costs associated with dangerous goods which qualify for the exemptions. As the Measures will be effective starting from next year, enterprises still have many questions surrounding the detailed arrangements for LQ and EQ. Therefore, Mr. Wu responded to industry concerns in the regard during the Q&A session.

Click here to read the most relevant questions with Mr. Wu’s responses.