The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will hold pre-meetings on June 23, 2021, in advance of the 58th Session of the United Nations Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (TDG) and 40th Session of the UN Sub-Committee of Experts on Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).
As the U.S. authority on the transport of hazardous materials, PHMSA represents the interests of all U.S. stakeholders. PHMSA’s International Program holds public meetings before attending international forums.
Both public meetings will be held virtually, as follows:
The UN summer meetings — the first meetings of the new 2021-2022 biennium — will take place just weeks after the PHMSA pre-meetings:
Transport of Dangerous Goods (TDG)
To ensure consistency between national regulatory systems governing every mode for the transport of dangerous goods (TDG), the United Nations established appropriate harmonization mechanisms. This harmonization occurs biennially during the meeting of the UN Subcommittee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UN SCE TDG). Every four meetings (every two years), the subcommittee compiles meeting proceedings into an updated version of the UN Model Regulations – recommendations on the transport of dangerous goods. These model regulations are used by many countries as a basis for the country’s TDG regulations.
After each UN meeting, the council drafts and circulates final reports to its membership that highlight the background of each proposal, the discussions, and outcome. The World Coatings Council also flags decisions that could potentially impact the paint and coatings industry moving forward so that those topics are closely monitored at future UN meetings.
Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS)
To ensure consistency between the regulatory systems for every type of chemical among nations, the UN established appropriate harmonization mechanisms. This harmonization occurs biennially during the meeting of the UN Subcommittee of Experts on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (UN SCE GHS). The result of this effort is the UN Model Regulation, which is used by many countries as the basis for labeling regulations.
