A presentation by Janette Botha, transport and construction law specialist delivered during the CAIA Dangerous Goods Transport Summit, held at the Sunnyside Park Hotel in Johannesburg on 22 September 2015.

1. {
Cross Border Transport
and Sub-Saharan African
Transport Legislation
Transportation of Dangerous Goods Seminar
September 2015

2.  Abuja Treaty: The harmonisation of national
policies….., particularly in the fields of …….industry,
transport ……….
 Sectoral integration in transport
 Adoption of common policies on transport
 Integration of transport and communications
infrastructure
 Harmonise rules
 Memorandum of Understanding on Inter Regional
Cooperation and Integration amongst COMESA,
EAC and SADC:
 Jointly develop infrastructure
 Harmonise programmes on transport and
communications
Regional Ideal for Transportation of
Dangerous Goods

3.  SADC Standards on dangerous goods
 Cross border operator registration in COMESA-
EAC-SADC Tripartite
 Vehicle Load Management Memorandum of
Understanding for COMESA- EAC-SADC Tripartite
Current Initiatives

4.  Standardisation, Quality Assurance, Accreditation,
and Metrology Programme – to oversee
standardisation of policies and procedures for ensuring
quality and safety of trade in the region.
 SADC Trade Protocol, Art 17: Members States must use
international standards, unless those standards are
inappropriate
 SADC Protocol Transport, Meteorology and
Communications: Member states to adopt harmonised
standards on the transportation of dangerous goods
 The South African Standards Suite on the Transportation
of dangerous goods have been adapted for SADCstans –
still in process
SADCStans

5.  Parties: COMESA, EAC and SADC
 Parties agree to incorporate the model legislation
provided in the Annex to the Agreement into domestic
legislation
 Provision for the filing of deviations
 Agree on model for decriminalisation
 Final Approval during 2015 – signature –distribution to
Member Countries – implementation by member
Countries
MOU on Vehicle load Management

7. Obstacles in the Implementation
of Regional Agreements

8. { {Monist Dualist
 Continental Law
(Francophone and
Portuguese African
countries)
 International agreements may
be self-executing
 Ratification may be done by
Head of State or Cabinet
 Steps usually needed:
Signature, Ratification and
publication
 English ( Anglophone
African countries)
 International Agreements
not self-executing
 Ratification mostly be
Legislature
 Steps usually needed:
signature, ratification,
statute
Monist vs Dualist Legal
Systems
vs

9. { {Monist Dualist
 Francophone and
Portuguese
 Rule of reciprocity:
agreement only enforceable
if the other country ratifies
and enforces
 International Law
supersedes national law
 Anglophone
 No reciprocity rule
 National law supersedes
international law
Monist vs Dualist
Continued

10.  - Ratification and implementation of instruments
 - Derogation from national sovereignty of Member States
 - Diversity and variations of constitutional laws, especially their
interaction with public international law
 - Dissimilarities and divergence between municipal laws, with
local legislation ignoring duly ratified conventions and treaties
 - Lack of fully developed and mainly accepted legal principles
regulating, for example, contractual liability and delictual liability
 - Lack of rules on the conflict of laws
 - Poorly equipped courts of law
Obstacles Identified by SSATP
(Jean Grosdidier De Matons)

11. Examples of differences in
legislation on the
transportation of DGs.

14.  Regulation of transportation of DGs not centralised:
 Road Traffic Act regulates the carriage of bulk liquids ( not
specifically hazardous) and prohibit the parking of
vehicles carrying dangerous goods in certain areas
 Explosives Act – need a permit to carry explosives
 Firearms act – need a permit to transport firearms
 Kenya Bureau of Standards: Published all relevant
Standards but these have not been made compulsory
yet
 Companies in Kenya adhere to Basel Convention as a
good practice
Kenya

15.  Road Traffic Regulation requires placarding
(the warning diamonds)
 Driver is the responsible person
 No other standards seem to have been issued
except in relation to the distribution of
petroleum gas
Botswana

16.  Road Traffic and Transport Regulations, 2001
 Based on South African legislation
 Not in effect yet – discussions planned for October
 SANS copyright an issue with Namibia
 Vehicle Mass Bill
 Decriminalising overload offences
 Introducing “security bond” equal to fine
Namibia

17.  ZS 670-1: 2012: Transportation of dangerous goods by
road, rail, water and air. Part 1 : identification and
classification of dangerous goods for transport
 ZS 670-2: 2012: Transportation of dangerous goods by
road, rail, water and air. Part: 2 Marking, labelling,
testing and packaging of dangerous goods guidelines
for transport in Zambia
 = SANS 1023
 Could not established whether standards have been
made compulsory
 Not regulated in terms of Road Traffic Act.
Zambia

18.  Road Traffic (Carriage of Hazardous Cargo)
Regulations
 Contains operational requirements
 No standardised placarding or emergency
information systems
Malawi

19.  AU, COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite and SADC intends to
harmonise
 No true harmonisation yet
 Operators, consignors and consignees will have to take the
initiative to comply with the UN standards and to exercise
pressure on the governments of countries where they
operate to incorporate the standards into their domestic
legislation.
Conclusion