Article 6

1. Each Member State may authorize the transport by rail within its territory of dangerous goods classified, packed and labelled in accordance with international requirements for maritime or air transport whenever the transport involves a sea or air voyage. Where a national or international journey involves carriage by sea, a Member State may apply provisions additional to those of the Annex to take account of international rules governing maritime transport, including international rules governing ferry transport. 2. The provisions of the Annex concerning the format of transport documentation and the use of languages in marking or in the documentation required shall not apply to transport operations confined to the territory of a single Member State. A Member State may authorize the use of documentation and languages other than those provided for in the Annex for transport operations confined to its territory. 3. Within its territory a Member State may allow the use of rail wagons constructed before 1 January 1997 which do not conform with the provisions of this Directive, but were constructed according to national provisions in force on 31 December 1996, provided that those wagons are maintained to the required safety levels. 4. A Member State may retain national provisions in force on 31 December 1996 relating to the construction, use and conditions of carriage of new tanks, and new receptacles as defined in Class 2 of the Annex, which differ from the provisions of that Annex, until references to standards for the construction and use of tanks and receptacles are added to the Annex, with the same binding force as the provisions therein, but in any event no later than 31 December 1998. Receptacles and tanks constructed before 1 January 1999 and maintained to the required safety levels may continue to be used under the original conditions. 5. A Member State may retain national provisions other than those in the Annex with regard to the reference temperature for the transport in its territory of liquefied gases or mixtures of liquefied gases, until provisions relating to appropriate reference temperatures for designated climatic areas are incorporated into European standards and referred to in the Annex. 6. A Member State may allow the use, in transport within its territory, of packaging constructed but not certified in accordance with the RID before 1 January 1997, provided that such packaging bears the date of its manufacture, is capable of passing the tests laid down in national provisions in force on 31 December 1996 and provided that they are maintained to the relevant safety levels (including testing and inspection where required), according to the following scheme: metal intermediate bulk containers and metal drums exceeding 50 litres in capacity may be used for up to 15 years after the date of their manufacture; other metal packagings and all plastic packagings may be used for up to five years after the date of their manufacture, but not after 31 December 1998. 7. A Member State may authorize the transport within its territory of certain dangerous goods packed before 1 January 1997 until 31 December 1998, provided that the goods are classified, packed and labelled in accordance with the requirements laid down in national provisions in force before 1 January 1997. 8. A Member State may retain the provisions of its national legislation which are in force on 31 December 1996 and relate to the display of an emergency action code in place of the hazard identification number, laid down in the Annex, for national rail transport operations conducted within its territory. 9. Any Member State may, after consulting the Commission, maintain provisions less stringent than those in the Annex for the transport by rail within its territory of small quantities of certain dangerous goods, with the exception of substances having a medium or high level of radioactivity. 10. A Member State may authorize within its territory ad hoc transport operations involving dangerous goods or transport operations which are prohibited by the Annex or transport operations performed under conditions different from those laid down in the Annex. 11. With due regard to Community law, this Directive shall not prejudice the right of a Member State, after consultation with the Commission, to authorize regular transport operations on particular designated routes within its territory, of dangerous goods, forming part of a defined industrial process, which are either prohibited by the Annex or are performed under conditions different from those laid down in the Annex where those operations are of a local nature and are tightly controlled under clearly specified conditions. 12. Provided that there is no loss of safety, a Member State may grant temporary derogations from the Annex for the purpose of carrying out within its territory the trials necessary before the amendment of that Annex in order to adapt them to technological and industrial developments. The Commission shall be informed accordingly and shall in turn inform the other Member States. Those temporary derogations, agreed among the Member States' competent authorities on the basis of the Annex, shall take the form of a multilateral agreement proposed to all the Member States' competent authorities by the authority that takes the initiative on any agreement. The Commission shall be informed. The derogations referred to in the first and second subparagraphs shall be applied without discrimination on grounds of the nationality or place of establishment of the consignor, operator or consignee; they may last for up to five years and shall be non-renewable. 13. A Member State may, until 31 December 1998 at the latest, apply existing agreements with other Member States, without discrimination on grounds of the nationality or place of establishment of the consignor, operator or consignee. Any future derogations shall comply with paragraph 12. 14. In accordance with Community law, this Directive shall not affect a Member State's right, after consulting the Commission, to authorize the transport of dangerous goods under conditions less stringent than those laid down in the Annex to this Directive in the case of local transport over short distances within the perimeters of ports, airports or industrial sites.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-31 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.