Altor guide · 2026-09-18

What a dangerous goods declaration check is and what it costs

The booking is set. The fibreboard is sealed. Someone on the dock searches for a dangerous goods declaration check because last month's carton came back, or because this is the first air tender of acetone or batteries packed with equipment. Carrier help pages explain how to fill the Shipper's Declaration. They do not grade that form against this year's list. The acceptance desk at the cargo terminal will. IATA DGR 9.1.3 is that walk. 49 CFR 175.30 is the US air acceptance rule next to it. A search for a check is usually a search for a written finding before the truck leaves.

What the regulation actually requires

The regulation does not require a consultant. It requires a true offer.

49 CFR 173.22 places classification, description, packaging, marks, and labels on the offeror. 49 CFR 172.202 is the basic description: identification number, proper shipping name, class or division, packing group when one is assigned, then quantity and packaging type. For air, IATA DGR 8.1 is the Shipper's Declaration, IATA DGR 8.1.6 is the completion standard, and IATA DGR 8.1.6.9 is the nature and quantity sequence. 49 CFR 172.204 is the shipper's certification. IATA DGR 8.1.6.12 is the matching block on the air form. For air, 49 CFR 172.204(c)(3) adds that the applicable air transport requirements have been met. 49 CFR 173.27 is the US aircraft packaging and quantity rule. 49 CFR 172.604 is the 24 hour emergency telephone number.

The operator does not have to take the freight. 49 CFR 175.30(a) forbids acceptance unless the material is authorized, within quantity limits, described and certified, and marked and labeled, including Cargo Aircraft Only when passenger carriage is not permitted. IATA DGR 9.1.3 is the walk that implements that duty. The desk runs the paper, then the carton. A miss is a refusal to accept, not a completed shipment.

That walk, written down before tender, is what shippers mean by the phrase. It is not a certification. It is not a signed declaration. It is a report that tells you whether this paper will survive the desk.

The report opens with a verdict: ACCEPT LIKELY, REJECTION LIKELY, or CANNOT ASSESS. Then each declaration line: PASS, FIX, or FAIL, declared versus the current IATA DGR Section 4.2 list, a citation, and the exact change. Cross checks follow: aircraft type, 49 CFR 172.604 telephone, marks described versus the box. Then anomalies a practitioner would question. The scope line is the same every time. Advisory. You keep the pen.

A worked example from the current ICAO TI Table 3-1 extract. UN 1090 Acetone is Class 3, packing group II. Passenger packing instruction 353 at 5 L, limited quantity Y341 at 1 L. Cargo packing instruction 364 at 60 L. A passenger booking that writes packing group III, packing instruction 355, and 10 L fails IATA DGR 9.1.3. The check should say FAIL, cite the list plus 49 CFR 172.202 and 49 CFR 173.27, and tell you to use packing group II, packing instruction 353, and 5 L or less, or packing instruction 364 on a cargo booking.

A second line can still fail on its own cell. UN 3481 Lithium ion batteries packed with equipment is packing instruction 966, passenger 5 kg, cargo 35 kg. Contained in equipment is packing instruction 967 at the same mass limits. Writing 967 on a packed with line is a FIX. The extract lists state variation US 3. Open the current US variation if the route needs it.

The mistake people make

They send Section 14 of the SDS and call it a check. The acceptance desk does not accept a safety data sheet.

They treat a green tick in the booking portal as a finding. The portal confirmed a UN number was typed. It did not walk packing group, packing instruction, net quantity, and aircraft column against this year's list. They ask a forwarder if it looks fine and treat the answer as a cited change. They expect the report to become the signature block. 49 CFR 172.204 and IATA DGR 8.1.6.12 still name the person who offers the material.

They confuse a check of an existing form with having someone create the declaration. Those are different products. They send an unreadable scan, or a form with the aircraft type blank, then wonder why the verdict is CANNOT ASSESS.

They wait until the freight is already at the cargo terminal. That is rejection recovery, not a check before tender. What to do after a bounce sits at https://altor.consulting/rejected.html.

How to fix it: what a dangerous goods declaration check costs

Finish the Shipper's Declaration first. Lock UN number, packing group, packing instruction, net quantity, and passenger or cargo from the booking. Include destination and operator if you have them. Send that completed form, not a draft with empty lines, and not Section 14.

A single check of a completed declaration is $95 flat. The fee is due before the report goes out. Typical turnaround is one business day from payment. A 10 pack is $750. A monthly desk, up to 25 checks plus email advisory, is $1,250 per month. Creation of a declaration, when you need the form drafted rather than graded, starts from $175. That is a different product. In every case you keep the pen.

When the report comes back, read the verdict, then every line. Open the cited section. Make the exact change. Walk the paper against the box in the same order IATA DGR 9.1.3 will. Then sign under 49 CFR 172.204 and IATA DGR 8.1.6.12.

Do not tender until you can stand behind every line.

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

Catch the rejection before the carrier does

Send your completed declaration before you tender it. A line by line advisory report comes back within 24 hours, every finding cited. $95 flat, one click, and you keep the pen.

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