Dangerous Goods (Control) Regulation and Dangerous Goods (Application and Exemption) Regulation 2012 (Amendment) Regulation 2021 to be gazetted on Friday

     A spokesperson for the Security Bureau said today (February 17) that the Government will publish the Dangerous Goods (Control) Regulation (DG(C)R) and the Dangerous Goods (Application and Exemption) Regulation 2012 (Amendment) Regulation 2021 (the Amendment Regulation) in the Gazette on Friday (February 19), with a view to aligning the existing regulatory system with the international standards, and at the same time enhancing the safety of the manufacture, conveyance, storage and use of dangerous goods (DGs), while facilitating the operation of the trade and the daily use of DGs by the public.
 
     The spokesperson said, "Some of the provisions of the extant Dangerous Goods Ordinance and its regulations are no longer in line with international standards, so we need to update and rearrange them. The Government has therefore reviewed the relevant Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation and has been making legislative amendments in phases since 2002.
 
     "In the current phase, the amendments introduced by the Government seek to update the existing regulatory system of DGs so as to align with the international standards; to enhance the safety of the manufacture, conveyance, storage and use of DGs; and to facilitate the operation of the trade and the daily use of DGs by the public.
 
     "The Government will introduce the new DG(C)R to replace the existing Dangerous Goods (General) Regulations (DG(G)R) to set out the licensing regime for the manufacture, storage, conveyance and use of DGs, as well as requirements for the packing, marking and labelling (PML) of DGs. Moreover, instead of adopting an approach based on the categories of DGs (as in that under the DG(G)R currently), the structure of the new DG(C)R will be based on the functional aspects of the regulatory system (e.g. the manufacture, storage and use of DGs; the conveyance of DGs; and the PML requirements for DGs), so as to minimise the repetition of provisions that are applicable to different classes of DGs. As a result, the DG(C)R would be simpler and more reader-friendly.
 
     "Moreover, the Government will further amend the Dangerous Goods (Application and Exemption) Regulation 2012. The legislation was passed in 2012, setting out the list of DGs to which the Ordinance applies, the classification of these DGs, and the circumstances under which a certain DG is exempt from control. Updates to the 2012 regulation are now required to keep up with technological developments and regular amendments to the international standards. The Amendment Regulation will update the 2012 regulation to align with international standards." 
 
     The Government has conducted public consultations and consulted the relevant trades on the proposed amendments, and conducted briefing sessions for the public and the relevant trades from 2017 to 2020. Consultation papers were also issued for explaining the proposed amendments and inviting comments from the public. The public and the relevant trades are generally supportive of the proposals.
 
     The two regulations will be introduced into the Legislative Council on February 24. The next step is to introduce consequential amendments to other ordinances and subsidiary legislation, so as to avoid inconsistencies among legal provisions when implementing the new regulatory system. For the last step, the Secretary for Security will appoint a commencement date by gazettal for all the provisions to come into operation on the same date.