Hong Kong Regulations

MERCHANT SHIPPING (SAFETY) (DANGEROUS GOODS AND MARINE POLLUTANTS) REGULATION - SECT 8

Documentation

PART II

CARRIAGE OF PACKAGED GOODS

(1) (a) No packaged goods shall be offered for carriage or taken on board any
ship unless a dangerous goods declaration or a marine  pollutants declaration
as appropriate has been furnished to the shipowner or master.

   (b)  Where goods are both dangerous and a marine pollutant, the
        dangerous goods declaration and the marine pollutant declaration may
        be a combined document.

(2) A declaration referred to in subsection (1) shall indicate the
correct technical name followed by the words "MARINE POLLUTANT" where
appropriate, the UN number (whenever such a number exists) and in the case of
dangerous goods shall indicate to which of the following classes the goods
belong-

Class 1- Explosive. Class 2- Gases compressed, liquefied or dissolved under
pressure, subdivided into three categories; 2.1- Flammable gases; 2.2-
Non-flammable gases, being compressed, liquefied or dissolved, but neither
flammable nor poisonous; 2.3- Poisonous gases. Class 3- Flammable liquids,
subdivided into three categories; 3.1- Low flashpoint group of liquids having
a flashpoint below-18oC, closed cup test; 3.2- Intermediate flashpoint group
of liquids having a flashpoint of-18oC up to, but not including, 23oC, closed
cup test; 3.3- High flashpoint group of liquids having a flashpoint of 23oC up
to and including 61oC, closed cup test. Class 4.1- Flammable solids. Class
4.2- Substances liable to spontaneous combustion. Class 4.3- Substances which
in contact with water emit flammable gases. Class 5.1- Oxidizing substances
(agents). Class 5.2- Organic peroxides. Class 6.1- Poisonous (toxic)
substances. Class 6.2- Infectious substances. Class 7- Radioactive substances.
Class 8- Corrosives. Class 9- Miscellaneous dangerous substances and articles
which present a danger not covered by other classes.

(3) Such declaration shall include the following information where
appropriate-

   (a)  the number and type of packages;

   (b)  the total quantity of packaged goods covered by the declaration (gross
        weight or volume);

   (c)  other information required by the IMDG Code.

(4) The declaration shall include a statement that the goods are packaged in
accordance with this Regulation.

(5) It shall be the duty of the shipper to furnish the shipowner or master
with the declaration required by this section, unless he does not deliver the
goods to the ship or its agent. In such case it shall be the duty of the
shipper to furnish the forwarder with such declaration.

(6) In the case that the shipper does not deliver the goods to the ship or its
agent it shall be the duty of the forwarder to furnish the shipowner or master
with the declaration.

(7) A shipper or a forwarder who fails to furnish a declaration as required by
this section, or furnishes a declaration which he knew or ought to have known
to be false, commits an offence.

(8) A shipowner or master who accepts for carriage, or takes or receives on
board, any packaged goods for which a declaration which is required by this
section has not been furnished commits an offence. (Enacted 1994)