On June 25, Transport Canada issued proposed amendments to the registration database under its Transport of Dangerous Goods (TDG) regulations. The proposed amendments would introduce new requirements for persons to register themselves and their TDG sites with a new online registration database administered by Transport Canada, and to provide data related to their transportation of dangerous goods activities at those sites.

As proposed, a person would have to renew and update (as needed) their registration in the database annually. The registration database application will be made available online through Transport Canada’s website and would have to be completed one year after the amended regulations come into force.

Transport Canada is accepting comments on its proposal through Sept. 2, 2022. The Canadian Paint and Coatings Association (CPCA) is coordinating industry comments on this proposal.

The UN established appropriate harmonization mechanisms. This harmonization occurs biennially during the meeting of the Subcommittee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. 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.

ACA, through its Transport Committee and the World Coatings Council, is proactively engaged in efforts to harmonize the United Nations model regulations for TDG to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness for cross-border and multi-modal shipments of paint and allied products. To this end, ACA and the council participates in the UN Subcommittee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods meeting to ensure consistency between national regulatory systems governing every mode for the transport of dangerous goods.

Contact ACA’s Rhett Cash for more information.