IATA: Cargo Screening Alone Cannot Solve Undeclared Dangerous Goods Risk
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) in Budapest called for stronger collaborative action across the air cargo supply chain through a multi-layered approach to counter undeclared and mis-declared dangerous goods. IATA stressed that security screening, primarily focused on terror threats, is an important layer of protection but not a primary solution. About 80% of dangerous goods incidents reported to IATA in the first half of 2025 involved undeclared or hidden dangerous goods, with lithium batteries and concealed items such as undeclared e-cigarettes and aerosols most commonly identified. IATA issued a white paper urging governments, manufacturers and online marketplaces, ship…
Impact and considerations
Undeclared dangerous goods remain a persistent air cargo safety risk, and IATA's data indicates the problem centers on declaration and upstream processes rather than screening alone. For freight forwarders, airlines, and shippers, this implies rising compliance and training pressure, and regulatory discussions may dri…
Key points
- IATA in Budapest called for collaborative, multi-layered action across the air cargo supply chain to counter undeclared and mis-declared dangerous goods.
- IATA stressed that security screening, primarily focused on terror threats, is an important layer of protection but not a primary solution.
- About 80% of dangerous goods incidents reported to IATA in the first half of 2025 involved undeclared or hidden dangerous goods.
- The most commonly identified products included lithium batteries and concealed hazardous commodities such as undeclared e-cigarettes and aerosols.
- IATA's white paper calls on governments to strengthen oversight and enforcement, and on manufacturers and online marketplaces to ensure dangerous goods are correctly identified and certified.
- Shippers, freight forwarders, and postal operators should strengthen training and acceptance controls and use customer and shipment data to identify higher-risk cargo earlier.
- Airlines and ground handlers should strengthen pre-loading checks, and airports should improve coordination and information sharing across the cargo community.
Sources and time
- Primary source
- International Air Transport Association
- Other sources
- 0
- First source publication
- 24 Sept 2026, 08:00
- Page published
- 24 Sept 2026, 21:39
- Last updated
- 24 Sept 2026, 08:00
- Original links
- IATA Pressroom：Cargo Screening Alone Cannot Solve Undeclared Dangerous Goods Risk (opens in a new tab)Primary source · en · Published 24 Sept 2026, 08:00