What it is
What AMovP-6 governs
AMovP-6 is the NATO Allied Movement Publication that governs the multi-modal transport of military dangerous goods: their classification, packing, marking, labelling and documentation before a shipment moves, the identification and use of the right transport asset, loading and unloading, filling and unfilling of tanks, and temporary storage while goods are in "transport status" - a status running from classification for transport through to unpacking afterward. Nations record their agreement to use it in STANAG 4441. Its stated aim is to reduce risk to security, safety, health and the environment when dangerous goods used by military forces cross public traffic areas, and to add guidance for the parts of military inventory the civil international agreements on dangerous goods do not cover. It "is not intended to be a substitute either for international codes, or for national regulations, but should be used in conjunction with them."
Who it addresses
AMovP-6 speaks to countries "which implement this standard," which it requires to identify to the commanders of their forces "the responsibilities and duties relating to this standard." Through those commanders, it reaches the people who actually classify, pack, certify, drive and instruct: it names "dangerous goods safety advisors, certifiers, packers, drivers, or instructors" directly, and requires them to be properly trained and to have access to the relevant DG regulations. It applies "to the nations participating in missions tasked by NATO," and NATO members and partners may additionally "apply this standard as their national standard for dangerous goods transport." It does not address suppliers or civilian transport companies in its own terms; where military transport capacity runs short, the document treats civilian transport as a resource commanders draw on, not as a party it binds directly.
Applicability across borders
Crossing a border between partnering nations invokes AMovP-6 "in relation" to STANAG 2455/AMovP-2B's specific sections for road, rail, inland waterway, sea and air movement, and that publication's general parts "as applicable." Transiting a non-participating nation's territory instead brings "local rules of a (non-NATO) host nation" to bear. Nations can, and do, ratify with reservations: Belgium limits its education about the standard to staff who handle the waiver process, Germany reserves the right not to implement the training requirement because national training standards differ, and France reserves the right to apply less restrictive national rules on its own territory.
Class 1 ammunition and explosives: classification and hazard distance
Most of this base document's substantive detail concerns Hazard Class 1, ammunition and explosives. They must be classified under STANAG 4123 into one of six Hazard Divisions and thirteen compatibility groups; AASTP-03 lists the national authorities empowered to approve that classification. Ammunition "should not be laden with incompatible classes of DG, unless otherwise specified in SRDs," though there is no legal bar on sharing a container with unregulated general cargo if the risk is properly weighed. At an accident scene, firefighting continues under standard operating procedures until cargo containing Hazard Division 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 or 1.5 risks being engulfed by fire, at which point crews withdraw to a safe distance, a default of 500 metres, subject to national deviation. Where fire already touches the packages, no firefighting should be attempted, and personnel should evacuate, take cover and expect an explosion. Packages involved in an accident cannot continue their journey until an ammunition expert has certified them safe to move again.
Packaging and moving between transport modes
Packaging is not prescribed down to the material: anything meeting the UN standard for containment, or approved by the national competent authority, will do, provided it will not break open or spill, and neither reacts with its contents nor forms a dangerous combination with them. Where road or rail carriage precedes or follows sea or air carriage, ICAO-TI/IATA DGR or IMDG Code rules can be followed instead of AMovP-6's own. Freight-container requirements are "an integrated part of AMovP-5."
Training and certification
No NATO-wide DG training standard exists yet, even though national training standards do, so military personnel need training in both military-specific and civilian commercial DG procedures, and no untrained person may carry out self-responsible duties identified in DG regulations. Training must cover at least the subjects set out in AMovP-6's own SRD 1, and graduates need a nationally approved training certificate, ideally showing the training category in English as well as the national language. Because civilian DG qualifications tend not to meet military requirements on their own, personnel who trained and certified only through a civilian institution need supplementary military DG training, and anyone newly assigned to a DG transport role should be supervised until they can work autonomously.
What it does not cover
AMovP-6 sets no retention period for training, classification or incident records. This base document also does not itself contain the mode-specific technical requirements for road, rail, sea, inland waterway or air transport, or the training syllabus in detail - those sit in the eight Standards-Related Documents, AMovP-6.1 to AMovP-6.8, that it repeatedly points to. And it names no certification body, notified body or organisational audit scheme of its own: the only approvals it describes are a national authority's classification approval and a nationally issued personnel training certificate, both narrower than certifying an organisation.