{"id":857735,"date":"2024-11-06T07:00:47","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T12:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/?p=857735"},"modified":"2025-09-08T00:44:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T04:44:53","slug":"know-your-exemptions-tdgs-special-cases-for-the-agricultural-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/help-center\/articles\/know-your-exemptions-tdgs-special-cases-for-the-agricultural-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Know Your Exemptions: TDG\u2019s Special Cases for the Agricultural Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post was originally published in 2021 and has been updated for accuracy.
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Know Your Exemptions: TDG\u2019s Special Cases for the Agricultural Industry<\/h2>\n

The \u201cspecial cases\u201d found in Canada\u2019s Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations<\/a> (TDGR) encompass a wide range of functions. Some of them, like the \u201c150 Kg Exemption\u201d found in section 1.15<\/a> are used by most of the public at some time, even if they\u2019re not aware they\u2019re doing so. Other exemptions are targeted at very specific sectors \u2013 the military, say, for section 1.20<\/a>, \u201cNational Defence\u201d or section 1.50<\/a>, the \u201cHot Air Balloon Cylinder Exemption,\u201d which is mostly useful, as you might expect, for those engaged in the sport of ballooning. If you\u2019re engaged in farming, you\u2019ll have several special cases which make it easier to haul supplies to the farm even if you\u2019re not a certified dangerous goods handler or receiver.<\/p>\n

Agriculture: 1,500 kg Gross Mass Farm Vehicle Exemption, section 1.21<\/b><\/h3>\n

Section 1.21<\/a> is the first of these special cases. It applies to the \u201chandling, offering for transport or transporting of dangerous goods on a road vehicle licensed as a farm vehicle,\u201d so rules out third-party carrier deliveries. Licensing of farm vehicles is normally a provincial responsibility \u2013 for example, Ontario\u2019s rules<\/a> include that you must make at least $7,000 annually by farming, so that means this won\u2019t work for a \u201chobby farm\u201d in your back yard. (Although in that case, you can probably get all you need under the 150 Kg Exemption.)<\/p>\n

However, if the goods are transported on a licensed farm vehicle, the shipment will be exempted from Part 3 (Documentation), Part 4 (Dangerous Goods Safety Marks), Part 5 (Means of Containment) and Part 6 (Training). This will allow the farmer or farm worker to pick up dangerous goods such as fertilizers or pesticides and transport them back to the farm without having to have dangerous goods training although they must understand the restrictions on this exemption, such as that it is restricted to no more than 1,500 kilograms per vehicle.<\/p>\n

Why else is this exemption useful? Well, it allows you to carry dangerous goods other than gases in non-certified packaging, as long as the packaging is \u201cdesigned, constructed, filled, closed, secured and maintained so that under normal conditions of transport, including handling, there will be no accidental release of the dangerous goods that could endanger public safety.\u201d Gases will still require certified cylinders that meet the requirements of Part 5. The vendor doesn\u2019t have to put any safety marks on the packaging (although having them wouldn\u2019t be considered \u201cmisleading\u201d), and no dangerous goods shipping documents need to be provided (unless an Emergency Response Assistance Plan, or ERAP, is required, in which case a document containing the ERAP information must be provided.) Even though the shipment may exceed 500 kilograms, no placards are required on the farm vehicle.<\/p>\n

Other than that, the restrictions on this special case include:<\/p>\n