"Sino-U.S. Dangerous Goods Transportation Safety" Workshop was successfully held

The "Sino-U.S. Dangerous Goods Transportation Safety" Workshop co-organized by ASTL-China and DGM China was successfully held on June 11, 2009 at Great Wall Sheraton Hotel in Beijing. Attendees from government agencies, associations, enterprises and universities attend the event.

Since the signing of the "US-China Cooperative agreement on Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods" on March 30, 2009 by U.S. Secretary of Transportation and Chinese Minister of Transport, both sides have been committed to promoting communications and training for transportation of dangerous goods.

The degree of globalization is increasing in China, with it comes new challenges concerning shortage of qualified practitioners, dangerous goods transportation safety, tracking of dangerous goods, dangerous goods emergency response, and the formulation of government policy.

The workshop consisted of presentations by Mr. Chen Zhengcai (Senior Engineer and Director of Transportation and Safety Section of Department of Waterway Transportation) and Mr. Ryan Paquet (Assistant International Standards Coordinator, Office of Hazardous Materials International Standards, U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) and a lively discussion period.

During his presentation, Mr. Ryan Paquet introduced the structure of United States Department of Transportation, the structure of PHMSA and the main functions of each office, what kind of roles PHMSA play with regard to dangerous goods monitoring, transportation, emergency response, etc, as well as the difference of regulations between the U.S. and UN concerning certain materials. Mr. Ryan Paquet also said that since the two sides had a successful cooperation on dangerous goods transportation during the Olympic, we should further promote the cooperation on dangerous goods safety.

Mr. Chen Zhengcai also introduced the regulations of transporting dangerous goods internationally, the latest development on dangerous goods transportation regulations in China and the cooperation between China and the U.S. on transportation safety, technical cooperation, information exchange, the rules of dangerous goods transportation safety and other fields.

During the discussion period, attendees shared their ideas, suggestions and their own experiences in handling of dangerous goods. Discussion topics included how to better coordinate international regulations with domestic regulations? How to ensure the dangerous goods transportation safety in China? How to help practitioners reduce unnecessary fines and cost?

Speakers' Introduction & List of Attendees