Now that US DOT and its agencies - well, most of them - are clearly focused on the 'enterprise approach' to rulemakings, industry conferences are providing an increasingly important forum to allow those affected the opportunity to influence the regulations Representatives of various administrations within the US Department of Transportation (DOT) turned up to this year's annual forum of the Council on Safe Transportation of Hazardous Articles (COSTHA) with a brief to inform the audience of current and future developments but also with open ears ready to listen to industry's comments on where they need to be putting their efforts. This opportunity for dialogue, which is being fostered by a new approach to transparent dealings with the regulated community on the part of DOT, helped attract a record crowd to the event, which took place this past March 9 to 13 in St Petersburg, Florida. After two pre-conference days, when delegates had the chance to avail themselves of a wide range of training courses and round-table discussions, the forum proper kicked off with papers covering development in international regulations (HCB June 2008, page 6). Matters then turned to more local issues, beginning with a presentation by Janet McLaughlin, dangerous goods specialist at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). International development in the air mode had already been covered by Geoff Leach, chair of the Dangerous Goods Panel (DGP) at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), who introduced Janet as the 'Queen of the Packing Instructions'.
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