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ICAO imposes first-ever charge limit on lithium battery shipments, effective April 1

ICAO has published its much anticipated addendum highlighting additional consignment conditions  for the transport of lithium batteries. The ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel considered that these would significantly improve the already high-level of safety of these shipments and it would be prudent to have them in place as soon as possible. As a result, the ICAO addendum

New Year, New Revisions to DG Regulations for IATA and IMO

As often occurs at the turn of the year, both the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have released updates to their respective Dangerous Goods Regulations.  In the case of the IATA regulations, much of it has to do with revisions to rules surrounding lithium batteries.  Please see our relevant

DG Digest: FMCSA lowers truckers’ substance test rates, will hold FAST sessions; FRA begins PTC data collection

December 24: FMCSA cuts random truckers’ testing rate for substance abuse to 25%. Good news for truck drivers and carriers—the United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has cut the random testing rate for substance abuse in half, from 50% to 25%. This should produce a nice savings for carriers,

USDOT/FMCSA announces delay to new Medical Exam Report and Certificate compliance date

Today the United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) formally made the anticipated announcement of which rumor had circulated in the regulatory community for the last several days.  FMCSA offered a “grace period” of 120 days regarding mandatory use of the new Medical Examination Report (MER) (Federal Form MCSA-5875) and

ICAO proposing even more changes to lithium battery rules for air shipment

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) held its semi-annual meeting in Montreal, Canada earlier this month. Among many issues discussed there were further changes that may affect shippers and carriers of lithium batteries. This commodity has been under the spotlight for several years now on account of the sometimes-volatile transport incidents that have come to

The Latest Developments in International DG Regulations

It’s been an incredibly busy last six weeks in the realm of international regulatory development. The beginning of November saw the ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel wrap up its 24th biennium, putting the final changes in place for the 2017-2018 ICAO Technical Instructions and tackling the very difficult subject of whether or not a prohibition on lithium batteries

New OSHA Letter of Interpretation clarifies Import/Export issues under the HCS

On November 23rd, 2015 the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) released a Letter of Interpretation (LOI) which offered further clarification of US companies’ responsibilities when importing or exporting materials which require action under the 29 CFR 1910.1200 Hazard Communication Standard (HCS).  This standard was revised in 2012 to harmonize it with the UN Globally

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