PROJECT 072: Developing and strengthening the capacities for the management of risks associated with the land transport of chemical and biological materials

Context

The relevance of multiple issues related to the transport of dangerous good in the North Africa and Sahel region was highlighted and defined in May 2017 during the meeting of National Focal Points (NFP) of the European Union's Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Risk Mitigation Centres of Excellence Initiative (EU CBRN CoE) in Brussels. In order to further discuss the topic and its regional importance, a 3-day workshop in Tunis was organised in October 2017 involving experts and the NFPs of all partner countries from the region to develop the present Terms of Reference according to their highest priorities.

Overall objective

To strengthen the safety of the road transportation of hazardous chemical and biological materials in the North Africa and Sahel region.

Specific objectives

1. Improving safety and security regulations for TDG;
2. Improving TDG logistics and traffic planning;
3. Improving prevention, preparedness and response to TDG accidents by increasing the awareness and skills of transportation entities, first responders and security services.

Activities

The project includes specific activities aiming at each actor of the transport chain as mentioned below (non-exhaustive list of actors):

• Consignor;
• Safety adviser;
• Packer, shipper, loader, unloader;
• Carrier, driver;
• Consignee.

Achievements

• Hundreds of actors in the transport chain (i.e., shippers, carriers, drivers) were trained in accordance with international regulations, in particular the ADR;
• A group of first responders from the civil protection services of the participating countries were trained to reinforce their operational procedures and introduced, in theory and in practice, to the use of the CERES software.