• IATA has advocated for a layered approach to tackle the emerging threat environment posed by primarily undeclared and mis-declared dangerous goods in its latest white paper titled: ‘Safety and Security in the Cargo Supply Chain: Prevention, Detection, Management and Resolution of Risks with Dangerous Goods.’

A new International Air Transport Association (IATA) white paper has found that more than 80 percent of reported dangerous goods occurrences involve undeclared shipments.

It says screening alone cannot solve the problem and has called for a layered approach across the whole supply chain to mitigate the emerging threat and risk environment.

The white titled ‘Safety and Security in the Cargo Supply Chain: Prevention, Detection, Management and Resolution of Risks with Dangerous Goods,’ has acknowledged that legitimate carriage of dangerous goods is not the primary concern, as the nine classes of dangerous goods covering more than 3,500 substances and articles are routinely transported as air freight.

“Dangerous goods are transported safely by air every day. The risk comes when they enter the system undeclared or incorrectly declared. Every part of the supply chain has a role to play in identifying and stopping such incidents as soon as possible,” Brendan Sullivan, Global Head of Cargo at IATA.

It is the passage of undeclared or hidden dangerous goods have been found to cause over 80 percent of incidents. These fall under three categories: undeclared goods, which are presented as general cargo with no DG declaration, mis-declared goods, which have a declaration that is ‘wrong, incomplete, misleading, or inaccurate’ and weaponised goods, which are deliberately used or modified to cause harm.

E-commerce and lithium batteries

The paper links the rise in risk to the rapid growth of e-commerce and the widespread use of lithium batteries in consumer goods. In many cases assessed, batteries have not been recognised as dangerous goods, but as components within the everyday items they power. The rise of online marketplaces means that some consignors may have a limited understanding of dangerous goods classifications and the documentation required to process this safely.

The threat of goods weaponisation

The paper also addressed improvised incendiary devices (IIDs). In July 2024, IIDs hidden inside consumer electronic devices were concealed within cargo consignments. Further incidents followed later in 2024 and again in 2025. These devices were ‘deliberately engineered to disguise their components”. The apparent aim was to damage aircraft and disrupt air cargo supply chains… [their usage] revealed potential gaps and vulnerabilities within the current supply chain system and existing national and international aviation security programs,’ stated the report.

Limitations of current screening methods

Some stakeholders and regulators have proposed using aviation security screening as the primary defence against dangerous goods risks and IATA has warned that this approach has limits. ‘Current cargo screening technologies, certification standards, algorithms and training programmes were primarily developed to detect weapons, explosives and other security threats,’ the paper states. Dangerous goods may not have a scent that explosive trace, or dog detection can pick up, for example. Existing x-ray equipment may not be sufficiently designed, calibrated or certified to detect the latest field of potentially dangerous goods. A significant percentage of global air cargo has also been found not to be screened by x-ray due to its size, shape, weight or density. There are limitations with all forms of screening, whether it is time intensive or not practical due to the cargo in question.

‘Expanding screening without clear priorities, suitable technology, specialist training and enough resources ‘could increase false alarms, inspections, costs and operational disruption while diverting attention from core security objectives,’ IATA cautioned.

A layered, shared approach

Instead, IATA is advocating for “a layered, risk-based and supply-chain-wide approach that prevents or identifies unauthorized dangerous goods at the earliest practicable point.”

It says states that this should provide strategic direction, coordinated oversight, harmonized requirements and proportionate enforcement. Manufacturers, online marketplaces, retailers, shippers, postal operators, freight forwarders, ground handlers, airports and aircraft operators should each apply controls that match their responsibilities and risk exposure.

Understanding of what the threat environment looks like, and a forward-thinking approach to managing this is sure to be key to the next steps in dangerous goods handling in air transport.

IATA’s Cargo and Aviation Security teams developed the paper jointly with relevant boards and working groups. It is aimed at airlines, supply chain partners, states and regulators.

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