The International Air Transport Association (IATA) launched DG Digital, a digital Dangerous Goods Declaration solution that fully digitalizes the creation and approval of shippers’ declarations for more than 3,800 dangerous items—from lithium batteries to explosives and chemicals.
“IATA’s Dangerous Goods Regulations are focused on reducing complexity and improving safety in the shipment of dangerous goods. DG Digital supports this by digitalizing the shipper’s declaration process, providing all stakeholders—from shipping agents and freight forwarders to ground handlers and airlines—access to the same document. This supports the rapid resolution of any issues in the documentation before an item is physically shipped,” says Frederic Leger, IATA’s SVP, product and services.
Key takeaways:
· DG Digital allows for declarations to be generated and transmitted digitally from creation by the shipper to validation.
· DG Digital captures all required data needed for Dangerous Goods Declarations while enabling users to exchange this information electronically with all partners.
· Users of DG Digital can identify and address issues that may cause a shipment to be rejected or delayed by an airline, including missing or incorrect documents.
· The launch follows successful trials in Japan where digitally validating declarations resulted in only 0.5% of dangerous goods shipments being rejected. This is a significant improvement from the current global average of 4.5% of shipments being rejected due to incomplete or inaccurate declarations.
