REPORT ON THE TRIPARTITE PANEL OF EXPERTS MEETING, HELD IN KIGALI, 29TH-31ST MAY 2012
This meeting followed the two meetings held in Gaborone and Kampala. It was fully funded by TMSA, including all delegates’ travel and accommodation. It was chaired by a representative of the Transport Development Agency in Rwanda. Approximately 40 delegates attended from most countries in East and Southern Africa (as far North as Uganda). The meeting was to try and finalize the draft documents on the Fitness of Vehicles, the Evaluation of Vehicle Test Stations, the Transportation of Dangerous Goods and Abnormal Loads. COMESA and SADC would annex the final documents to their Protocols. The EAC would create an EAC Act for them. This Act would be supra-national and override national Acts in EAC member states. GUIDELINES ON HARMONISATION OF VEHICLE FITNESS AND THE EVALUATION OF VEHICLE TEST STATIONS Vehicle Fitness It was to be noted that this document was for the testing of vehicles at test stations. Two other documents, Equipment on Vehicles and Loads on Vehicles, already finalised by SADC, determined what had to be tested. It was therefore important for all stakeholders to be familiar with the Equipment and Loads documents, before commenting on the testing of vehicles. There were serious concerns by member states re the modification of vehicles; particularly buses. The meeting agreed that modifications could be accepted, providing they had the manufacturer’s acceptance (by being shown on a plate attached to the vehicle) and they comply with the regulations. In some member states, the local authorities would need to agree. SADC was still to commission studies on the minimum acceptable level of smoke emissions, the harmonisation of vehicle number plates and the training standards for vehicle examiners. Black smoke emission was a serious problem in many cities and a solution needed to be found. This emission was due to poor engine condition and not to be confused with the levels of harmful emissions as regulated internationally. Re number plates. SADC would send out a questionnaire, requesting details on member states’ number plate systems. Data would be required back to SADC by 15th July. They would also be required to send in reports of any studies being carried out. A consultant would then be required to synthesize the data and produce a proposal for harmonization. The SADC document on Equipment on Vehicles, would have to be updated before updating the document on the testing of vehicles. Re training for vehicle examiners. The same process as for number plates, would be carried out. BICO, which is doing the regional study on harmonizing the dimensions of vehicles, noted that there were differences between member states. FESARTA requested that BICO ensured the study made very clear recommendations for critical dimensions, eg height and length. It was agreed that no standing passengers would be allowed in cross-border transport. Evaluation of Test Stations South Africa would provide input on inspectorates for test stations. The Tripartite was developing policies and strategies on private sector participation in OSBPs and weighbridges. Vehicle test stations could be included in this process. In South Africa, generally, the public sector operated weighbridges for enforcement and the private sector operated them for certificates of roadworthiness. GUIDELINES ON HARMONISATION OF TRANSPORTATION OF HAZARDOUS/DANGEROUS GOODS It was noted that the document was short (13 pages); considering that the transportation of dangerous goods was such an important and complex issue. The reason was that the document was regulated by a large number of standards. As these standards needed to change and be updated from time to time, their content was sourced from United Nations. It meant that the regulations could remain unchanged and only the standards be updated. Introductory sections on the scope and normative references, were to be added to the document. The meeting agreed that there should be public awareness campaigns. GUIDELINES FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF ABNORMAL/AWKWARD LOADS Many member states did not have a system for the management of abnormal loads transportation and merely charged a standard fee.This was not sustainable into the future since the growth of intraregional trade and the increase in the number and type of abnormal loads, required differentiation in fees and flexibility in management.
SADC was to pursue the development of a regional abnormal permit, since having to manage different permits for each country was a major obstacle to the free movement of abnormal loads. Member states in general agreed, but noted that there would be a lot of work to convert from a fixed permit fee to one which varied according to mass, dimensions and distance. FESARTA recommended that a presentation on the calculation of road-usage and mass-distance fees, be given by an expert to the next Panel of Experts meeting. The meeting agreed CSIR in South Africa would be asked to provide the software programme for calculating these fees. The CSIR would also be asked to develop a proposal for a regional abnormal load permit. Both to be completed by March 2013. PROFESSIONAL DRIVING PERMIT It was noted that SADC was leading a project on the harmonization of driving licences and the professional driving permit. One of the PrDPs, was the PrDP-D, and that applied specifically to driving dangerous goods vehicles. SADC was still to engage a consultant to develop guidelines for the PrDPs for general goods, dangerous goods and passengers. Whilst SADC had already harmonized the standard driving licence, this had not been done in COMESA and EAC. The harmonization of the driving licence and the PrDP, for all three RECs, would be done together. EVALUATION OF MOBILE TEST STATIONS Botswana gave a presentation on this subject. There was a model designed as a mobile semi-trailer unit, and one that needed to be lifted on to a truck and attached to container twistlocks. The latter version cost in the region of US$400000. It was agreed that the equipment should be re-calibrated after each movement. The meeting agreed that the documents on mobile and fixed testing stations, would be merged into one. DETERMINING THE MASS OF A PERSON PLUS LUGGAGE IN A BUS The Secretariat noted the following: UN regulation R107 allocated 68kgs per person plus 3kgs per person luggage, equalling 71kgs total. No reference was made to children. The SADC Guidelines currently stood at 75kgs per person. 100kgs/cu.metre was allocated to the luggage compartment under the seating area. 75kgs/sq. metre was allocated to a roof rack. FESARTA was very concerned that, in general, the capacity of buses was determined by the number of passengers and not by the mass on the axles. There were too many serious bus accidents in the region, and axle mass on buses should be taken more seriously. In mitigation, city buses did not have provision for luggage and so were unlikely to be overloaded. The meeting agreed that there should be some differences in the guidelines for city and long-distance buses, though these differences were not identified. The meeting agreed that the mass per person be reduced from 75kgs to 71kgs, in line with the UN recommendations. ADVOCACY It was necessary to have an education, advocacy and awareness campaign to member states; to ensure that national stakeholders appreciate the benefits and what is required of regional harmonization. The meeting agreed on this plan of action.
