Comprehensive reform of the Act on the Transport of Dangerous Goods would raise the safety and security of society – draft bill out for comments

The Ministry of Transport and Communications will reform the Act on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. The aim of the reform is to improve the safety of the transport, to prevent possible environmental damage and to provide favourable conditions for new businesses. The reform would clarify and harmonise the outdated, and partly unclear, regulation and so improve the safety and security of the entire society. The Ministry has sent the draft bill for a round of comments, which will end on 2 August 2021.

The current Act dates from 1994. It has been amended several times and the operating environment in the transport sector has changed considerably in 30 years.

The aim of the draft bill that was sent out for comments is to provide a coherent package of the requirements in road, rail, vessel and air transport and to streamline legislation by, for example, removing ambiguities and specifying the powers of the authorities. One aim is to bring the provisions on the transport of dangerous goods better into line with the requirements imposed by the Constitution of Finland. The draft bill also takes into account the international treaties and EU legislation on the transport of dangerous goods.

Concrete changes are proposed to the monitoring of the transport and to the sanctions for violating the Act. Changes are also proposed to the regulation on the storage related to the transport of dangerous goods, for example in terms of areas and marshalling yards intended for temporary storage of the goods.

The draft bill proposes that in future the authorities be required to make plans on how to monitor the transport of dangerous goods. The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency

would coordinate the regulatory control. The Agency would be given powers to issue stipulations on technical matters.

What next?

The draft bill on the transport of dangerous goods was sent out for comments on 2 June 2021. The deadline for comments is 2 August 2021.

Organisations and private individuals are invited to comment the proposal online at www.lausuntopalvelu.fi or by email at [email protected].

Following the consultation round, Ministry officials will continue the preparations for the Act. It is scheduled to enter into force in spring 2022.

Inquiries:

Kimmo Kiiski, Senior Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 342 304

Saara Reinimäki, Director of Automation Unit, tel. +358 295 342 087