23rd revision of the UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods

The United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, commonly known as the UN Model Regulations, are maintained, and amended by the UN Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (TDG Sub-Committee). The UN Model Regulations, which are updated every two years, serve as the foundation for unified international and national dangerous goods transit legislation.  

Following the UN Committee of Experts' acceptance of the revisions to the UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods in December, the 23rd amended edition will shortly be released. Duty holders do not need to take any action at this time because the revisions won't take effect until the beginning of 2025. The numerous model, regional, and national agencies in charge of the laws that businesses must abide by will spend the interim time incorporating the revisions into their rules. 

Listing and distinctive provisions  

The following list contains  some of the significant modifications made to the 23rd updated edition of the Model Regulations: 

•  New entries in the Dangerous Goods List 

• One new special provision specific to sodium ion cells and batteries, namely SP 401New paragraph added after paragraph 5:  UN 3556 VEHICLE, LITHIUM ION BATTERY POWERED, UN 3557 VEHICLE, LITHIUM METAL BATTERY POWERED and UN 3558 VEHICLE, SODIUM ION BATTERY POWERED, as applicable, apply to vehicles powered by lithium ion, lithium metal or sodium ion batteries transported with the batteries installed.     

• The final two phrases in the former paragraph 6 (now paragraph 7) have been merged to form the following:    

• UN 3558 is subject to a new SP 404, while the three newly adopted entries for battery-powered vehicles are all subject to a new SP 405 

• A new SP 400 grants a broad exemption for UN 3552 alone, acknowledging the negligible risk that sodium ion batteries in equipment represent. 

• A new SP 407 is necessary due to the implementation of new entries for fire suppressant dispersion equipment. 

• Only Class 9 of the UN 3559 standard shall be applied to fire suppression dispersal equipment. 

• SP 408 and SP 409, two brand-new special provisions, have been approved and assigned to UN 1835. 

• Additionally, SP 310 has been changed to read as follows: "2.9.4 (a), (e) (vii), (f) (iii), (f) (iv), and (g) shall not apply to cells or batteries from production runs of not more than 100 cells or batteries, or pre-production prototypes of cells or batteries when these prototypes are transported for testing."  

On the UNECE website, the online version of the 23rd revised edition of the UN Model Regulations will be released when it is ready (for reference, the 22nd revised edition debuted in September 2021); a notice will be posted on the publications page and the dangerous goods main page.