New Guidance on the IATA Hazmat Regulations

PMA manufacturers who ship hazardous materials will want to note a few of the recent changes to the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations.

IATA, the International Air Transport Association, publishes the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR). U.S. law permits reliance on the ICAO Technical Instructions, which are substantially reprinted in the IATA DGR. Because the IATA DGR is much easier to use than the ICAO Technical Instructions, it has become common for air carriers and others in the air-cargo shipping world to rely on the IATA DGR the source of regulatory guidance.

The 51st IATA DGR has been published and became effective January 1, 2010. There are several changes to the new edition. The changes are summarized in an IATA Change Summary www.iata.org/nr/rdonlyres/fdc8274a-d374-4c30-8edc-1fa23ce5f3d6/0/dgr51_significantchanges.pdf.

Significant changes for the 51st edition include:

New testing standards applied to Division 1.4S explosives (this is the most common classification of squibbs used as fire suppression actuators in aircraft engines)

Air waybill information requirements have been revised to require inclusion of the number of packages

Lithium battery packing instructions have been reformatted to more clearly state their requirements

Use requirements for the environmentally hazardous substances marking have been clarified