I Declare!
Transport Canada has generated a fair amount of discussion with the introduction (to be mandatory July 15, 2015) of Section 3.6.1, the “Consignor’s Certification”, to the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations (TDGR) in the July, 2014 “Update of Standards” amendment.
The issue is not so much the fairly common wording (although the wording may underlay some of the concern- more on that to follow) of the Certification declaration. Rather there is some concern over whose name must appear and how it is displayed on the document. The latter discussion usually focuses on whether or not a “signature” is required for the declaration, which starts “I hereby declare…”.
It may be useful to review this issue in the light of the actual wording in Part 3 and the definitions in Part 1 of the TDGR.
Section 3.6.1(2) states:
“The certification must be made by an individual who is the consignor or by an individual who is acting on behalf of the consignor and must set out that individual’s name.”
Signatures
Nowhere is there mention of a “signature” (i.e. “a person’s name written in a distinctive way…”- Oxford English Dictionary, online edition at 2014-10-08- OED).
The term “set out” is not defined in the TDGR. Although it is not quite as clearly defined as “signature”, the phrase “set out”, in the OED, includes to “…display something…in a particular position”. This would seem to imply that a “signature” is not required under this section.
[Consignor’s who do wish to use an individual’s signature, or who are required to under the provisions of one of the alternate declarations of 3.6.1 (1)(b)-(e), should note that the required information must be legible and indelible under section 3.4. So the use of a signature may still require having the printed name on the document as well.]Whose Name?
Again, the actual wording indicates that the declaration is being made “by an individual who is the consignor or by an individual who is acting on the behalf of the consignor”. Back to TDGR Part 1 for definitions!
The “consignor” means “a person …”- whoops, let’s look further: “Person means an individual or an organization.” (We could go further in defining individuals, natural persons, artificial persons, etc. – but I think we’ve got the picture!).
So the name of the Consignor, in general (e.g. to indicate entity responsible for the shipment under 3.5(1)(a)), can be the company (organization) – but cannot be used for certification under 3.6.1.
3.6.1 does not limit the “individual” to being the loading dock employee putting the consignment in the truck (rail car, etc.). Presumably, and perhaps preferably in many organizations, it would be more appropriate to have as the individual’s name a person (“natural person”) more familiar with the “upstream” operations leading to the compliant DG shipment.
The former may not have the knowledge- beyond proper use of a company’s electronic systems- to give a meaningful declaration in the context of the detailed aspects covered in the broad declaration.
The latter could be, for example, a Logistics Specialist, Shipping Coordinator, Technical Specialist, Distribution Manager, etc.- someone who may know the details regarding the actual classification. The ideal might be to have someone with the knowledge of the upstream processes (package selection/filling, marking/labelling, etc. in addition to classification) and some accountability for the training of the downstream individuals who physically “hand off” the consignment to the carrier.
Clarification?
There was some information included in the Gazette I proposal and in the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement “(This Statement is not part of the Regulations.)”- RIAS. The two documents do seem to indicate that the subject is not entirely clear in the minds of the regulators.
The January Gazette I proposed regulation included in its “Rationale” section that the addition of the Consignor’s Certification would make it easier for inspectors “to find…” or “to identify the contact person for acquiring information on the consignment”. This concept was also included in the RIAS of the July Gazette II publication, but was expanded with the wording in the “Description” section which stated that the requirement would “…provide the name of the individual who prepared the consignment…”. However further on in the “Rationale” section of the RIAS, the same information appears as “…the name of the person preparing the consignment.” – individual or person?
Clarification is not provided in either the actual regulatory wording – or in guidance text associated with the TDGR published website version.
Conversations with at least two Transport Canada Regional Duty Officers in different provinces indicated an interpretation of the actual wording as indicated in “SIGNATURES” and “WHOSE NAME” above- subject to any future Bulletins/ Alerts/ FAQ , etc. being issued.
Consignor’s may want to give some thought- consult legal advisors or request “official” clarification from Transport Canada- before finalizing their shipping document.
Postscript:
The French version on the TDGR website may be even more confusing- “L’attestation est fait par une personne…” (pas “par une personne physique”). i.e. English says by an “individual”, French says by a “person”.
Post-postscript:
It is somewhat ironic that just before the TDGR amendment mandating Consignor’s Certification, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission proposed (Canada Gazette I, June 28, 2014) to drop the Consignor’s Declaration requirement for Class 7 since “it adds very little value” to the general consignor’s ultimate responsibility for a compliant consignment and removing the statement requirement “aligns” with the (then) current TDGR!
