Transport of dangerous goods by rail

PURPOSE: proposal to amend Directive 96/49/EC regarding the transport of dangerous goods by rail with the purpose of solving problems that will arise after 01/01/1999 concerning the application of certain transitional measures. CONTENT: Directive 96/49/EC on the transport of dangerous goods by rail came into force on 01/01/1997. The Directive provides for certain transitional measures valid until 01/01/1999, so as to permit the finalisation of certain standardisation work by CEN (European Committee for Standardisation). Given the delay in this work, the deadline laid down in Directive 96/49/EC is no longer consistent with the current situation, giving rise to short-term problems of application. These problems concern measures relating to receptacles for transporting Class 2 gases and on tanks. The objective of the modification of Directive 94/55 is to avoid the amendment of national laws for a very short period : amending Community legislation is more efficient than amending national legislations for a very brief period. It is therefore proposed to: - replace the deadlines as specified by 30 June 2001 and 1 July 2001 respectively by allowing the Committee under Art. 9 to postpone those deadlines in respect of certain equipment; - amend the procedure for the acceptance of derogations; - specify the conditions on whioch a transport operation can be considered an ad hoc transport operation.�