by Steve Schulte, CHMM, CPP, DGSA The United Nations Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UNSCETDG) met in Geneva from June 27 to July 6, 2016.  The following is a brief summary of the major amendments to the dangerous goods transportation regulations that will become effective for the Hazardous Materials Transportation Regulations (DOT), International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the European Road and Rail Dangerous Goods Regulations (ADR/RID) on January 1, 2019.  The major amendments that will become effective are: Throughout the dangerous goods regulations the word “risk” will be replaced with the word “Hazard”. For example, "Subsidiary Risk" will change to "Subsidiary Hazard." Chapter 2.8 regarding corrosivity and corrosivity criteria, to include packing group criteria, will change to better align with the GHS criteria. It will align in certain areas such as the use of additivity. The Dangerous Goods list, specifically column 4, will change from "Subsidiary Risk" to "Subsidiary Hazard" wherever it applies. A new entry to the Dangerous Goods list will also be added for UN3356, Lithium Batteries Installed in Cargo Transport Units. There are other changes that have been made that the reader may want review in the reference below. Reference: http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2016/dgac10c3/ST-SG-AC10-C3-98a1e.pdf