Enforcement
Different authorities are responsible for enforcing the regulations for transport by road, air, sea and rail. Ultimately, the Department for Transport is the lead government department on all aspects of Dangerous Goods transport, in whatever mode. Consequently it is the Secretary of State for Transport who responds to Parliament on transport matters.
Road
The ADR agreement allows Dangerous Goods travelling by road through more than one country to be exempt from the domestic legislation in force in those countries, as long as the requirements of ADR are met in full. However, ADR contains no provisions for enforcement and therefore, where a vehicle travelling under ADR does not comply in full, each national authority en-route enforces its own requirements, and the vehicle becomes subject to all domestic requirements.
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE), in conjunction with the police and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), is the enforcement authority in respect of compliance to the Carriage of Dangerous Goods Regulations and the Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations covering road transport in the UK.
Or, you can view a list of the prohibition notices served on Dangerous Goods vehicle by following this link - Opens in a new window:http://news.hse.gov.uk/2008/08/20/carriage-of-dangerous-goods-prohibition-notices-5/
Sea
Individual countries are responsible for implementing the IMDG Code under their own legislation and in the UK this is done through The Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods and Marine Pollutant) Regulations 1990, which are enforced by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) - a division of the Department for Transport, and through The Dangerous Substances in Harbour Areas Regulations 1987, as enforced by the Health & Safety Executive.
Rail
Europe-wide rules govern the transportation of Dangerous Goods by rail. These are known by the letters RID. You will also see references to the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations - these translate the RID rules into UK legislation. Inspectors from the Department for Transport's TRANSEC division enforce the requirements in Great Britain.
Read about transporting dangerous goods by rail on the Department for Transport website.
Air
The Civil Aviation Authority is the agency responsible for matters related to compliance for goods offered to airlines for carriage by air.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) currently receives around 400 Dangerous Goods incident reports a year. You can read about the process used for incidents relating to the carriage of dangerous goods.
You can also read about dangerous goods incidents and see monthly listings of incidents received on the CAA website.