IATA has called for a multi-layered approach to tackling undeclared dangerous goods in air cargo, arguing that no single control measure can reliably catch shipments that shippers misdeclare, hide or fail to declare at all.

The call places one of air freight's most persistent safety problems back at the top of the industry agenda. Undeclared dangerous goods — from lithium batteries and aerosols to flammable liquids packed inside general cargo — sit outside the regulatory net of checks, markings and documentation that applies to properly declared hazardous shipments. Because they enter the network as ordinary freight, they evade the acceptance inspections, dangerous goods declarations and handling restrictions designed to keep hazardous materials from endangering aircraft and crews.

The essence of IATA's position is that layered defences must work together. Screening technology, shipper vetting, training, documentation checks and penalties each catch a different slice of the risk. Relying on any one of them leaves gaps that bad actors or simply careless shippers can slip through.

For carriers, the commercial stakes are direct. An undeclared hazardous shipment that ignites or leaks in flight can force diversions, aircraft damage, emergency landings and investigations that ground aircraft for days. Insurance exposure, reputational damage and regulatory scrutiny follow. Carriers already carry the cost of inspecting, seizing and disposing of misdecligned or undeclared goods discovered on the ramp, and the incidence of such finds has long frustrated airline dangerous goods teams.

For freight forwarders, the message implies tighter obligations upstream. Forwarders accepting cargo from shippers bear responsibility for establishing what is in the boxes they tender to airlines. A multi-layered regime puts pressure on them to sharpen shipper due diligence, staff training and acceptance procedures rather than pass unexamined consignments down the chain.

For shippers, the approach signals that ignorance of dangerous goods rules will carry a growing price. Products that contain lithium batteries — consumer electronics, e-commerce gadgets, power tools — are the classic case: many shippers do not realise the finished goods they move are regulated as dangerous goods, Class 9, under air transport rules. A layered system means more touchpoints where such cargo gets flagged, held or penalised.

The economic logic behind layering is straightforward. Each additional independent control multiplies the probability that a hidden hazardous shipment gets caught before loading, and distributes the burden of detection across the parties best placed to exercise it — the shipper who knows the contents, the forwarder who consolidates, the ground handler who screens, and the carrier that accepts. No participant sees the whole picture, so the system must be built so each layer compensates for the blind spots of the others.

IATA's framing also serves as a warning to regulators and enforcement agencies. Detection at the airport is the last and most expensive line of defence. Effective enforcement upstream — audits of shippers, penalties for misdeclaration, and consistent application of rules across jurisdictions — reduces the volume of undeclared goods reaching the airside in the first place.

The industry body's intervention comes as air cargo volumes keep e-commerce flows moving at pace, compressing acceptance times and increasing the share of cargo tendered by shippers with limited dangerous goods awareness. Speed and volume raise the premium on controls that work without slowing the network.

IATA has not proposed a single fix. Its multi-layered call points toward incremental tightening across screening, training, shipper accountability and enforcement in the coming regulatory cycles, with dangerous goods compliance likely to feature more prominently in carrier audits and forwarder acceptance procedures ahead.