Exemptions to Adr consultant requirement for shippers

The Adr Regulation on the Road Transport of Dangerous Goods imposes, in Section 1.8.3, the figure of the safety advisor, which from the 2019 update also includes the obligation for enterprises defined as "consignors" by the Adr itself, i.e., "the enterprise that dispatches dangerous goods for its own account or for hire or reward. When the transport is carried out on the basis of a contract of carriage, the shipper under this contract is considered to be a consignor." From January 1, 2023, this will be mandatory, but with some exceptions.

With the suggestion number 717/134 dated December 21, 2022, the Ministry of Transport clarifies what are the circumstances of such exemptions. The first case is when the activities of shippers "concern quantities, per transport unit, that do not exceed the limits defined in Section 1.1.3.6. and Section 1.7.1.4 as well as in Chapters 3.3, 3.4 or 3.5 (Section 1.8.3.2(a)) of the Adr Agreement."

The second case of exemption is when "companies do not carry out, as their main or ancillary activity, transportation of dangerous goods or packing, filling, loading or unloading operations related to such transportation, but occasionally carry out domestic transportation of dangerous goods, or packing, filling, loading or unloading operations related to such transportation that have a minimal degree of hazardousness or pollution risk (Section 1.8.3.2(b) of the Adr.

The ministry's note concludes that "taking into account that the current exemptions in Italy are governed by Ministerial Decree July 4, 2000, and clarified by the relevant circular November 14, 2000, number A26, the same exemptions apply to shippers under the same operating conditions. Even under the conditions of non-mandatory from the appointment of the safety advisor, however, the operators involved will have to comply with the requirements enshrined in the agreement."