Shipping Dangerous Goods Globally

The European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road is known as ADR. Countries that have signed the ADR agreement are required to comply with the regulations for transporting dangerous goods on the ground in Europe. UPS operates in accordance with the provisions of section 1.1.3.6.

Note: ADR applies only to dangerous goods shipments in Europe. See "UPS International Dangerous Goods Countries/Territories," below.

Dangerous goods air packages must be prepared in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous goods by Air, which the International Air Transport Association (IATA) uses as the basis for their Dangerous Goods Regulations. Regardless of the global destination, all dangerous goods packages transported in the air must comply with the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations.

Note:  See "UPS International Dangerous Goods Countries/Territories," below.

Learn more about IATA regulations

UPS supports dangerous goods services in the following countries:

• North America: United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.
• Europe: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Vatican City.
• Asia: Hong Kong SAR, China; Japan; Malaysia; Philippines; Singapore; South Korea; and Taiwan, China.

Note: Dangerous goods services to and from some of these locations may be limited.

There are two types of lithium batteries: lithium ion and lithium metal. If dropped, crushed, or short circuited, they could catch fire. These batteries are subject to special regulations. Lithium ion batteries are found in cell phones and laptops. Lithium metal batteries are found in flashlights, watches, and calculators. Shipments requiring dangerous goods shipping documents are accepted only from contract shippers for transport within the UPS dangerous goods service area. Certain lithium batteries may not qualify for UPS dangerous goods service.

Dry ice can be shipped in the UPS air and ground networks domestically and internationally. Shipping dry ice with UPS may not require a dangerous goods contract or dangerous goods shipping papers if the contents being cooled are not subject to full dangerous goods regulation. However, dry ice shipping does require an agreement under UPS's International Special Commodities (ISC) program. Packages must display appropriate information on the UPS address label, as well as correct marking and labeling. If dry ice is used to refrigerate dangerous goods, then a dangerous goods contract is required.

Biological Substance, Category B (UN3373) refers to an infectious substance that is not in a form generally capable of causing permanent disability, life-threatening, or fatal disease in otherwise healthy humans or animals when exposed to it. For domestic and international shipments, UPS accepts UN3373 on a contractual basis under its International Special Commodities (ISC) program. Shipping biological substances in Category B requires adherence to specific IATA and ADR marking and packaging requirements, but there are no required dangerous goods documents. If the Category B shipment is refrigerated with Dry Ice, there are additional marking, labeling and shipment description requirements and UPS requires an ISC agreement as previously mentioned.

Shipping dangerous goods with UPS requires a contract to ensure compliance with applicable regulations, as well as UPS carrier requirements. Your UPS account executive can help with this process.

The UPS International Dangerous Goods Chemical Tables provide a list of dangerous goods that UPS transports.

Dangerous goods packages must be prepared in accordance with ADR regulations for ground shipments and IATA regulations for air shipments. Shippers must make certain a package is correctly marked, packaged, labeled and documented.

Note: Preparing dangerous goods for transport by aircraft usually requires compliance with more stringent regulations than for ground transport. For example, for air shipment, packages containing liquids must satisfy a pressure differential test specified in the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations. Each dangerous goods package must also have the required IATA Shippers Declaration for Dangerous Goods.

Dangerous Goods regulations are subject to change on a regular basis.

For information on UPS rates regarding Dangerous Goods services, please refer to UPS Rate and Service Guide.

When dangerous goods information is entered in WorldShip, the data is validated to ensure it meets regulatory compliance.

UPS works with third party dangerous goods software vendors. The following vendor list offers preparation modules for the IATA Shipper´s Declaration for dangerous goods. These programs work in conjunction with WorldShip.

• Dangerous Goods Council
• Hazmat Software, LLC^©
• Labelmaster

UPS offers the following APIs to support shipping dangerous goods with third party shipping clients:

• Dangerous Goods API – verifies that dangerous goods shipments comply with regulations
• Pre-notification API – lets UPS know of dangerous goods shipments that have been processed and will enter the UPS transportation network.

Common Dangerous Goods

The following descriptions could indicate dangerous goods: aerosols, cosmetics, chemicals, cleaning solutions, compressed gases, flammable liquids, lighters, lithium batteries, machinery parts, matches, pharmaceuticals, oxidizers, paints, perfumes, solvents.

Accepted Dangerous Goods Classes

The following are descriptions of accepted dangerous goods Classes and Divisions:

Class/Division 2.1 - Flammable Gas
Class/Division2.2 - Non-Flammable Gas
Class 3 - Flammable Liquid
Class/Division 4.1 - Flammable Solid
Class/Division 4.2 - Spontaneously Combustible(European Standard Service only)
Class/Division 5.1 - Oxidizers
Class/Division 5.2 - Organic Peroxides(European Standard Service only)
Class/Division 6.1 - Toxic Liquid/Solid
Class/Division 6.2 - Infectious Substances, Category B only
Class 8 - Corrosive Liquid/Solid
Class 9 - Miscellaneous

Note: Please use the applicable UPS Chemical Table for additional possible restrictions on individual UN Numbers.

Prohibited Dangerous Goods Classes

The following are descriptions of prohibited dangerous goods classes:

Class 1 - Explosives
Class/Division 2.3 - Toxic Gas
Class/Division 4.3 - Substances which in Contact with Water Emit Flammable Gases (Dangerous When Wet)
Class/Division 6.2 - Infectious Substances, Category A
Class 7 - Radioactive Materials