At the sitting held on 22 October, the members of the Committee on Transportation and Communications accepted the Bill on Hazardous Cargo Transportation, in principle, Bill on the Confirmation of the Air Transportation Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt, as well as two amendments submitted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia to the Bill on Hazardous Cargo Transportation.

The Ministry of Infrastructure representative, who presented the Bill on Hazardous Cargo Transportation to the Committee members, stated that it had been drafted by an interdepartmental task group comprising representatives of the ministries of infrastructure, interior, economy and regional development and environmental protection. Considering that a 1990 Law and a Governmental Ordinance from 2000 are currently in power, there was a need to amend the legal framework regulating the transportation of hazardous cargo. The Bill aims at a preventive action on all participants in the transportation chain, enables the implementation of international transportation regulations and reduction of accidents. The Bill envisages the introduction of a safety advisor who will take care of the implementation of international transportation standards and a Hazardous Cargo Transportation Directorate created from the Ministry’s existing human resources and acting within the Ministry of Infrastructure.

After the presentation and a short debate, the Committee members accepted the Bill on Hazardous Cargo Transportation, in principle. The Committee members also voted on two amendments submitted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia to the Bill viz. articles 74 and 75.

In the continuation, the Ministry of Infrastructure representative also presented the Bill on the Confirmation of the Air Transportation Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt, signed in May this year since the previous Agreement between the two countries had been signed in 1955. As both Serbia and the Arab Republic of Egypt are members of IKO, they are obliged to sign a bilateral agreement on air transportation as well.

Following a short debate the Committee members accepted the Bill by a majority of votes.

The sitting was chaired by Velimir Ilic, Committee Chairman.