Altor guide · 2026-08-28

n.o.s. entries and technical names

The UN number matches the list. The class is right. The packing group is right. The drums are closed. Then the acceptance desk at the cargo terminal parks the freight anyway. The proper shipping name ends in n.o.s., and the parentheses after it are empty.

That is not a wording preference. It is a missing line on the declaration.

What the regulation actually requires

n.o.s. means not otherwise specified. It is the name you use when the goods are dangerous, and the current list does not assign a more specific proper shipping name.

ICAO TI Table 3-1, implemented in the IATA DGR List of Dangerous Goods in Section 4.2, marks those entries with an asterisk after the name. The asterisk is the technical name flag. A US originating shipment has a matching flag: the letter G in column 1 of the Hazardous Materials Table at 49 CFR 172.101. Either mark means the basic description is not finished until the technical name sits in parentheses immediately after the proper shipping name.

49 CFR 172.202 sets the order of the basic description: identification number, proper shipping name, hazard class or division, and packing group when one is assigned. 49 CFR 172.203(k) is the technical name rule. The name in those parentheses is the chemical that contributes to the hazard, not the product name on the drum and not the trade name on the invoice. When the material is a mixture of two or more hazardous materials, 49 CFR 172.203(k) requires the technical names of at least the two constituents that contribute most to the hazards of that mixture.

On the air declaration, IATA DGR 8.1.6 is the completion standard. Nature and quantity, including the proper shipping name and the technical name, go on the form per IATA DGR 8.1.6.9. The operator then runs the acceptance check under IATA DGR 9.1.3. Empty parentheses fail that check even when the UN, class, and packing group are otherwise correct.

A worked example from the current table. UN 1993, Flammable liquid, n.o.s., Class 3, packing groups I, II, and III. For packing group II, passenger aircraft is packing instruction 353 at 5 L per package. Cargo aircraft is packing instruction 364 at 60 L per package. A finished packing group II line names the flammable constituent in parentheses, then the packing instruction and net quantity for that aircraft type.

The asterisk is not a Class 3 habit. UN 3077, Environmentally hazardous substance, solid, n.o.s., Class 9, packing group III, uses packing instruction 956 at 400 kg on passenger aircraft and on cargo aircraft. UN 3082 is the liquid counterpart, packing instruction 964 at 450 L.

The package has to agree with the paper. 49 CFR 172.301 is the identification number and proper shipping name mark. IATA DGR Section 7 is marks and labels. If the declaration carries a technical name, the outer packaging has to carry it too.

IATA DGR 4.1.2 is the name selection rule. Use the most specific proper shipping name the current list actually assigns. Acetone is UN 1090, Class 3, packing group II, a specific name, not UN 1993.

The mistake people make

Desks copy the n.o.s. name from Section 14 of the safety data sheet and treat the job as finished.

Section 14 often prints Flammable liquid, n.o.s. and stops. The chemical that drives the Class 3 hazard is in Section 3, composition. That is the technical name. A product name or SKU in the parentheses does not satisfy 49 CFR 172.203(k).

The other skip is using n.o.s. because the template already says n.o.s. Last week's mixture was UN 1993. This week's drum is acetone. The current list gives acetone its own entry. Forcing it onto UN 1993 produces a UN and a name that do not match. IATA DGR 9.1.3 stops at that pair.

Mixtures get a third skip. One constituent goes in the parentheses. 49 CFR 172.203(k) wants the two that predominate.

Paper versus box is the last one. The declaration gets the technical name. The mark on the fibreboard box does not. Or the reverse. The operator reads both.

Empty parentheses on an n.o.s. line are one of the paperwork failures that get freight parked at the cargo terminal. What to do after a rejection sits at https://altor.consulting/rejected.html.

How to fix it

Read the proper shipping name on the current IATA DGR Section 4.2 list, and on 49 CFR 172.101 when the US description governs, before anyone types the line.

If the name is n.o.s., or the US table flags it with the letter G, you need a technical name. Open Section 3 of the SDS for this consignment. Identify the chemical or chemicals that contribute to the transport hazard. Put those names in parentheses immediately after the proper shipping name. For a mixture of two or more hazardous materials, put at least the two that predominate.

Then confirm you actually belong on an n.o.s. entry. If the current list assigns this substance a specific name, use that name and that UN number. Do not keep UN 1993 out of habit.

Write packing group, packing instruction, and net quantity from the same row. UN 1993 packing group II on a passenger aircraft is packing instruction 353, 5 L per package, not packing instruction 364. Enter package count and net quantity per IATA DGR 8.1.6.9.2.

Walk the outer packagings. The UN number, proper shipping name, and technical name on the box have to match the paper.

If you cannot stand behind the name under 49 CFR 172.204 and IATA DGR 8.1.6.12, fix the line. Then sign.

Altor pre-checks completed Dangerous Goods Declarations line by line against the current regulations and returns a written report, with every finding cited, within one business day. You keep the pen. altor.consulting

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