Transport Canada has issued a permit to a number of members of the International Tank Container Organization (ITCO) allowing the entry into and use within Canada of certified UN portable tanks owned or operated by these members.
The Permit for Equivalent Level of Safety was issued after consultations with ITCO in which the group explained that portable tank containers designed, manufactured, inspected, tested, marked and repaired in accordance with the provisions of the 14th Edition of the UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods Model Regulations are transport units that are as safe in operation as those in compliance with the Canadian regulations. The permit is valid, for a period of two years, for all those ITCO members that applied for the exemption and showed their tank containers to be in compliance with the UN Recommendations.
In general, Transport Canada's Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations are aligned closely with those provisions in the UN Recommendations governing portable tanks. However, there are variances, such as those in Sections 5.10 and 5.14. ITCO is participating in a Transport Canada portable tank working group that is reviewing those areas where the domestic and international portable tank provisions differ, with the aim of aligning them fully.
ITCO believes such alignment can be achieved before March 2009, when the Permit for Equivalent Level of Safety that Transport Canada has issued its members is due to expire.