Carriers crack down on documentation as dangerous goods shipment demand rises

Demand for dangerous goods (DG) shipments is increasing amid the COVID-19 pandemic as the need for personal protective equipment, medical supplies and lithium batteries rises, but the disruption in air and ocean freight combined with recent high-profile accidents has made carriers more likely to reject DG cargo. Demand for DG transport by capacity has increased by 1.4 times since 2019, David Ma, program manager for dangerous goods at freight forwarder Flexport, said in “Keep DG Moving and Onboard,” a webinar this week on the topic presented by the San Francisco-based company. Meanwhile, the industry has recently seen several incidents related to DG shipments by ocean and air, including a battery fire at Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) in April that led Hong Kong Air Cargo to embargo all Vivo phone shipments. [caption id="attachment_83532" align="alignright" width="372"] Lithium-ion battery. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg[/caption] “In response, more carriers are scrutinizing dangerous goods shipments and sometimes banning them,” Ma said. Two-thirds of the over 100 webinar attendees participating in a poll during the webinar confirmed they had experienced a DG-related delay, rejection or fine during the past few months. Flexport advised webinar attendees to address their problems with DG acceptance by implementing a set of best practices, focused on thorough training and proper documentation. For its part, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which publishes the Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR), is making significant changes to the 2022 edition of the regulations. In a video update brief on the changes , IATA’s David Brennan, assistant director for cargo safety and standards, made note of some of the changes, including the revision of state variation rules to identify territories subject to state jurisdictions, changes around lithium battery shipments and new content to help shippers identify appropriate classification for certain radioactive materials. One of the more significant changes will have a direct impact on shippers, said Tomasz Rudolf, an IATA External Instructor based in Poland who has trained employees at organizations including Polish Post, Small Planet Airlines, Krakow Airport (KRK) and Wroclaw Cargo Terminal at Wroclaw Airport (WRO), among others. IATA is removing Section II from Packing Instructions 965 and 968 for spare lithium ion and lithium metal cells and batteries, which Rudolf told Air Cargo World means that “shippers who are planning to ship spare or loose lithium batteries will need to complete IATA DGR training for dangerous goods shippers (category 1).” Those shippers who have completed training based on current IATA DGR 1.6 on “Adequate instructions for shipping section II lithium batteries” and are shipping loose batteries, will need to complete IATA’s training in the coming year, Rudolf said, with three months granted to update their eligibility. Loose lithium batteries are already forbidden for carriage on passenger aircraft, as the cargo type poses a hazard unlike any other product shipped by air, Brennan said at an industry event in early 2020 . The chemical and electrical components of the batteries can sometimes short-circuit, sending a battery into “thermal runaway” that expends all the energy at once while also releasing hydrogen gas and potentially causing a fire or explosion. When packed among other batteries, any thermal runaway can start a chain reaction among all the shipment’s batteries. Flexport’s final best practice recommendation to webinar attendees is to ensure that their shippers are trained in DG and to check for proper training with every new vendor or new product from an existing vendor. However, forwarders should also be trained themselves, Flexport’s Ma added. “Just because you pass the test doesn’t mean you know how to properly pack and declare the cargo,” Ma said. “Shippers may make mistakes on documentation or in preparing a shipment. It’s important for forwarders to also get trained so they can check shipments.”

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