Hazardous Materials Transport Regulations
Hazard classes with ~3,000 listed substances
Current DGR edition (effective January 1, 2026)
Maximum US civil penalty per hazmat violation
Regulation Overview
https://www.iata.org/en/publications/dgr
The IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations are the global standard for classifying, marking, packing, labeling, and documenting hazardous materials shipped by air. Used by over 300 airlines worldwide, the DGR incorporates ICAO Technical Instructions and adds airline-specific and country-specific requirements through operator and state variations. The DGR covers approximately 3,000 listed substances across 9 UN hazard classes. Every shipment requires correct UN number assignment, proper shipping name, packing group determination, UN-specification packaging, hazard labeling, and a completed Shipper's Declaration for Dangerous Goods. A new edition is published annually with mandatory compliance from January 1. IATA DGR compliance demands substance-level hazard data—Safety Data Sheets, UN classifications, and packing instructions—from every supplier in your chain. When the DGR edition changes, all documentation, training records, and acceptance procedures require immediate update.
Key Components / Sub-Frameworks
Shippers preparing dangerous goods for air transport\nFreight forwarders and cargo agents handling DG shipments\nAirlines and ground handlers accepting and loading dangerous goods\nManufacturers and suppliers of products containing hazardous materials\nPackaging manufacturers producing UN-specification containers\nAny company whose products are shipped by air and contain regulated substances
Key Thresholds
A new DGR edition takes effect every January 1. Packing instructions change. State variations are added or revised. Lithium battery rules tighten. Your team must update every procedure, declaration template, and training record—across all facilities and freight forwarders—before the first shipment of the year.
Your shipment arrives at the airline acceptance counter. The Shipper's Declaration lists an outdated packing instruction reference. The hazard label is 2mm undersized. The overpack statement is missing. The airline rejects the shipment, the freight forwarder charges storage fees, and your customer's production line waits.
A shipment of lithium batteries routes through three countries on two carriers. Each country has different state variations. Each carrier has different operator variations. One carrier won't accept Class 9 lithium batteries on passenger aircraft. The other requires a 24-hour emergency contact number. Without variation-level checking, your documentation is incomplete.
Your product contains six components from four suppliers. Two suppliers provide incomplete Safety Data Sheets. One SDS is in Japanese with no UN number listed. The fourth supplier's SDS references a classification from the 2019 GHS revision. Without validated hazard data from every supplier, you cannot correctly classify or document the shipment.
Certivo In Action
CERTIVO IN ACTION — IATA DGR WORKFLOW
From Manual SDS Review to Automated Hazard Extraction
CORA extracts hazard data from supplier Safety Data Sheets automatically. Your team focuses on classification exceptions and complex determinations—not re-keying UN numbers from PDFs.
Dangerous Goods Documentation Acceleration
Generate complete, validated Shipper's Declarations and compliance packages in hours—not the days of manual compilation across SDS files and carrier requirements.
Real-Time DGR Edition Sync
When the new DGR edition takes effect, Certivo reassesses your portfolio instantly. Know which products are affected by classification, packing, or variation changes before your first shipment of the year.
Key Statistics
Frequently Asked Questions
What products and companies are subject to IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations?
Any company shipping articles or substances by air that are classified under the 9 UN hazard classes must comply with the IATA DGR. This includes manufacturers, shippers, freight forwarders, cargo agents, and airlines. The DGR applies to all dangerous goods—explosives, gases, flammable liquids, toxic substances, corrosives, lithium batteries, dry ice, infectious substances, and more. Even products containing small quantities of hazardous materials may trigger obligations.
What are the penalties for IATA DGR non-compliance?
Enforcement is handled by national civil aviation authorities. In the US, the FAA and DOT/PHMSA enforce hazmat regulations with civil penalties up to $500,000 per incident for organizations and up to $250,000 per violation for individuals, plus potential criminal prosecution. Airlines can refuse cargo, charge penalty fees, or suspend shipper accounts for DGR violations. Undeclared dangerous goods shipments carry the most severe penalties.
How does Certivo keep pace with annual DGR edition changes?
Certivo syncs with each new DGR edition and mid-year addenda as they are published. When the 67th Edition took effect January 1, 2026, CORA reassessed all affected products against updated packing instructions, new UN entries, and revised state and operator variations—alerting compliance teams to required changes before the first shipment of the year.
What hazard data formats does Certivo accept from suppliers?
Certivo accepts any format: GHS-compliant Safety Data Sheets in PDF, Excel hazard classification spreadsheets, IMDG declarations, XML files, and freeform responses. CORA extracts UN numbers, proper shipping names, hazard classes, and packing groups regardless of format or language, eliminating the need to standardize supplier inputs across your global supply chain.
Does Certivo support dangerous goods compliance across air, sea, and road transport?
Yes. Supplier SDS data collected for IATA DGR compliance is simultaneously validated against IMDG Code (sea), ADR (European road), and US DOT 49 CFR requirements. The same supplier submission feeds classification and documentation workflows across all transport modes—eliminating duplicate collection campaigns and ensuring multi-modal compliance from a single evidence base.