Nicosia, Cyprus. Fuel tanker owners have had 18 years to comply with mandatory ADR requirements for transporting flammable liquids, including one year since the transport ministry set a compliance deadline, a road transport department representative said on Tuesday.
The representative said the regulations were necessary to reduce risks associated with tankers transporting fuel on public roads.
Compliance deadline
The road transport department, known as TOM, said tanker owners had not acted despite having sufficient time to meet the requirements.
Petrol station owners’ association chairman Savvas Prokopiou said on Monday that the association supported the new regulations but that implementing the required procedures would take time.
The TOM representative said operators had been given adequate notice and could have either purchased new tankers or changed the registered use of existing vehicles so they would no longer be authorised to carry fuel.
Safety requirements
ADR requirements cover driver training, vehicle safety equipment and hazard markings for the road transport of dangerous goods.
The rules include driver certification, mandatory safety equipment kits and vehicle placarding. Placarding involves displaying standardised warning signs, symbols and orange plates on vehicles carrying hazardous materials.
The representative said operating fuel tankers without ADR compliance presented safety risks, including the possibility of accidents causing fatalities.
Regulatory history
According to the TOM representative, Cyprus should have aligned with the ADR system in 2008, but previous governments had not addressed the matter.
Last year, the transport minister gave tanker owners one year to comply with the requirements, the representative said.