UN Model Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods
The UN Model Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods are the source of the class definitions, UN numbers and packing groups used in the IMDG Code.
The UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, Model Regulations, are the model text prepared by the UN Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. They set the nine hazard classes, the packing-group criteria, the UN numbers and proper shipping names, and the packaging provisions that each modal instrument adopts.
The IMDG Code takes its class definitions and generic entries from the Model Regulations and its test references from the companion UN Manual of Tests and Criteria . The class chapters, for example chapter 2.4 on Class 4 , follow the Model Regulations closely, with sea-specific provisions such as marine pollutants, stowage and segregation added.
The full article will cover the revision cycle, how a Model Regulations revision feeds the two-year IMDG amendment, and the sea-mode departures from the model text.