A Recommendation on Safe Practice on Dangerous Goods in Ports and Harbours was first circulated by the Organization in November 1973. The subsequent development of new techniques in shore and ship operations, as well as the desirability of having more comprehensive recommendations which included dangerous goods in packaged form, liquid and solid dangerous substances and liquefied gas carried in bulk, made it necessary to revise and update the Recommendation.
 
The revised Recommendations are aligned with relevant IMO codes and the IMDG Code in particular. It is considered essential to harmonize the rules within the port area with those applied to the ship in order to ensure smooth operations and to avoid misunderstandings between ship and shore. A non-exhaustive glossary of relevance to the handling of dangerous cargoes is given in appendix 1 of this publication.