• Dangerous goods (DG) compliance in airfreight is increasingly about awareness, vigilance, and training, with hidden hazards like lithium batteries posing significant risk due to misdeclaration or lack of knowledge rather than deliberate non-compliance.
• Company performance in DG handling depends more on culture, training, and operational discipline than size, while regulatory updates, such as BIFA’s 2025 Standard Trading Conditions, emphasise shared responsibility between forwarders and customers.
• Technology, including AI and tracking systems, can enhance visibility and risk management, but human oversight and continuous training remain essential to ensure compliance with evolving regulations like the 2026 IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations.

As regulations tighten and cargo complexity rises, dangerous goods compliance is becoming less about ticking boxes — and more about visibility, vigilance, and training. According to the British International Freight Association (BIFA), the sector’s real vulnerability may lie not in large-scale violations, but in the quiet, everyday gaps of awareness that expose forwarders to risk.

Hidden DG and the limits of awareness

“Forwarders don’t often come to us with specific problems around dangerous goods,” says Pawel Jarza, BIFA’s Policy, Compliance, and External Affairs Director. “But what we do notice is an occasional lack of awareness — particularly with hidden DG, such as lithium batteries in consumer electronics. Parties tend not to look at these items as being hazardous.”

As lithium battery use expands across products and industries, Jarza warns that misdeclared or undeclared shipments could become more frequent — especially when forwarders assume goods are benign without closer inspection. The challenge, he stresses, is not always willful non-compliance. Often, it’s a knowledge gap.

That’s part of the motivation behind BIFA’s new training initiative. “We’ve identified general DG awareness as an area within which more could be done,” says Jarza. “That’s why we’re launching a BIFA Bitesize DG awareness training — short, focused, and accessible to all our members.”

No size advantage

The regulatory landscape is evolving, but contrary to assumptions, smaller forwarders are not necessarily at a disadvantage when it comes to DG handling. “Navigating the current regulatory landscape is indeed a challenge,” says Jarza, “but we don’t see a significant disparity between how smaller and larger freight forwarders handle DG.”

Instead, performance tends to reflect company culture, investment in training, and day-to-day operational discipline — not scale. This underscores the need for consistent education and shared standards across the sector, particularly as risk profiles shift due to e-commerce, automation, and global trade changes.

Compliance is a shared responsibility

While BIFA recently updated its 2025 Standard Trading Conditions (STC), these changes did not introduce new DG-specific obligations. However, Jarza notes that they reinforce an essential principle: “The amended STC place much greater emphasis on the customer’s role in ensuring compliance, including DG.”

This shift towards clearer liability allocation is timely. Increasingly, regulators and insurers are scrutinising the roles of shippers and forwarders in incidents involving undeclared DG. With enforcement intensifying across supply chains, proactive communication and documentation are vital.

Still, the UK’s departure from the EU has not significantly changed the DG enforcement picture. “Brexit didn’t really have any significant impact on enforcement,” says Jarza. “DG regulations applied to goods movements before we left the EU, and they continue to apply now.”

Training and tech together

With compliance pressure rising, many forwarders are exploring AI and tracking technologies to improve visibility and reduce risk. But Jarza offers a word of caution: “AI may definitely be a useful tool in managing compliance and mitigating risk — but like any other IT tool, users need to understand that these systems are there to help. They don’t remove the legal responsibility.”

He envisions a future where compliance is increasingly managed through AI-powered systems, particularly in areas like document verification, routing, and risk flagging. However, he adds: “These systems will need to be controlled and maintained by trained individuals who can ensure a compliant environment.”

In other words, technology can support best practice but not replace it.

An evolving regulatory front

Looking ahead, BIFA is keeping a close eye on upcoming changes in international DG regulation, including the recently released 2026 IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations. “It’s an ever-evolving world of regulations,” Jarza says. “It’s important that operators keep up to date, as the tendency is to tighten the regulatory landscape and to address new challenges — from technological developments to shifting trade patterns, such as the growth of e-commerce.”

To support its members, BIFA continues to liaise with the UK Department for Transport and other government departments, ensuring that freight forwarders’ concerns are heard — and that regulators can engage directly with the industry when needed.

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