The ATP is an international agreement on the transportation of perishable foodstuffs. Poland acceded to the convention in 1984.
This convention regulates the transportation of foodstuffs, such as, but not limited to:
- fish products,
- meat products,
- dairy products,
- vegetables, fruits,
- fats.
The agreement specifies the conditions that should be met by means of transportation for transporting perishable foodstuffs, including definitions, standards, testing conditions, how special vehicles should be marked, and temperatures required during transportation.
The application of the regulations under the ATP Agreement is mandatory for the transportation of all frozen products and certain chilled products.
Any vehicle that will be used for the transportation of perishable goods must have a so-called certificate of compliance of the means of transportation, commonly referred to as an ATP certificate. The issuance of certificates is handled by institutions that have been authorized to do so by the Ministry of Transport. In Poland there are two such institutions: The Central Refrigeration Center in Cracow and the Department of Working Machinery and Transport at the Poznań University of Technology. Each vehicle that is certified receives a special sticker to be placed on the vehicle's body.
Before the driver hits the road, he or she must perform a number of mandatory actions. First of all, the vehicle's cargo box must be thoroughly washed and disinfected. Next, the driver should make sure that inside the pan