Status and implementation of the ATP Agreement in 2021 – number of inspections and certificates issued

Compliance with formal and legal requirements for road transport of perishable products is one of the most important aspects of the industry. Any departures from the rules may endanger consumer health or even life. That is why strict observance of national and international regulations on road transport of food products is so important, as well as maintaining the technical condition of vehicles carrying these loads and of equipment used for temperature monitoring and product quality control. Among the most important regulations is the Agreement on the International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the Special Equipment to Be Used for Such Carriage (the ATP Agreement). It governs the carriage of perishable foodstuffs other than fruit and vegetables and the equipment used for that carriage. It sets common standards for temperature-controlled transport vehicles (equipment and vehicles include sea containers, refrigerated trailers and refrigerated rail wagons). Annex 1 to the Agreement defines the types of equipment used for transporting perishable foodstuffs. It is illegal to transport perishable foodstuffs across international borders between contracting parties unless the vehicle holds an ATP certificate. Specialist equipment for perishable goods must meet the insulation and cooling standards set out in the Agreement. Conformity checks of special transport equipment with ATP standards (Annex 1, Appendix 1) are carried out:

a) before equipment is put into service,
b) periodically, at least once every six years, and
c) whenever required by the competent authority of a Contracting Party.

Except as provided in sections 5 and 6 of Appendix 2 to Annex 1 of the ATP Agreement, checks are performed at a testing station designated or approved by the competent authority of the country where the equipment is registered, unless - for the check referred to above - the equipment or its prototype has already been checked at a station designated or approved by the competent authority of the country of manufacture.

A – example of equipment and vehicles in good technical condition
B – example of equipment and vehicles in poor technical condition

An ATP certificate is valid for six years but may be extended by a further three years after an “in-service” examination by determining the K-coefficient at an approved ATP station authorised by each signatory country. The list of authorised centres is available at: ATP competent authorities and testing stations. Our unit is one of the authorised ATP testing stations. If you operate a vehicle with equipment that has no ATP certificate and no type approval, the only way to obtain a certificate is testing at an approved centre. Below are UNECE data on the number of inspections and ATP certificates issued by countries applying ATP rules. Information on inspections and infringements in 2021 was provided by twelve countries: Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland and Spain (see Table 1 below).

Additional information on certificates issued in 2020 was provided by twenty countries: Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom (see Table 2 below).

Bibliography:

• SCHREMPF, Bernhard. ATP – agreement. Refrigeration and foodstuffs – energy consumption. In: Modern Technologies in the Food Industry. Volume I, 1-3 noiembrie 2012, Chişinău.
• Economic Commission for Europe. Inland Transport Committee, Working Party on the Transport of Perishable Foodstuffs, seventy-ninth session, Geneva, 25-28 October 2022, Item 4 (d), Status and implementation of the Agreement on the International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the Special Equipment to be Used for such Carriage.