Circular No. 20 - 12 - 04

Amendment 40-20 edition of the IMDG Code

This document summarizes the amendments being introduced in the Amendment 40-20 edition of the IMDG Code which may be used on an optional basis from 1 January 2021 until it becomes mandatory on June 1 2022.

Note, during this extended transitional period Amendment 39-18 can continue to be used.

These notes are intended to provide an overview of the changes being introduced and should not be regarded as a complete listing of amendments. Reference must be made to the text of Amendment 40-20 for full details of all the amendments and applicable requirements.

Brief summary

• Less headline changes than normal Amendments resulting from the restrictions imposed on IMO meetings due to the coronavirus pandemic, impacting the normal work agenda, however there are still several  hundred changes to consider
• Harmonised with the update to Model regulations, 21st edition
• Several changes to the definitions in chapter 1.2, This includes, a new definition for ‘dose rate’ which replaces radiation level, the definition of which is now deleted; existing definitions for ‘GHS’, ‘Liquids’, ‘Manual of Tests and Criteria’, ‘Self-accelerating decomposition temperature (SADT)’, ‘Transport index", ‘Self-accelerating polymerization temperature (SAPT)’ have been amended
• The indicative list of high consequence dangerous goods in 1.4.3.1.2. has been updated to reflect the addition of the new A40 UN Numbers
• In Part 2, there are various amendments in the class chapters, in particular for class 6.2 in 2.6.3 and class 7 in 2.7.2. For class 7 radioactive materials the new SCO-III classification criteria is included. Other editorial upda