Use of Alternative Spellings & Other Contradictions – IATA Dangerous Goods Regulation (DGR)

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Many shippers ask the question about alternative spellings in the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulation (DGR) for common words and terms used in processing Dangerous Goods shipments.  This can be related to preferred packaging descriptions in IATA Section 5 (Table 5.O.C), or in the documentation requirements set forth in IATA Section 8. The most common of these are related to packaging types such as the word “Fiberboard” (most commonly used in U.S. prose) versus “Fibreboard” (commonly used in Canada, the U.K. and many others).  The bottom line is that alternative spellings reflecting common usage around the world are considered acceptable.

Another contradiction is the word “Parenthesis” used in Appendix B, Nomenclature, to indicate the requirement to include a “chemical/technical name” to generic proper shipping names (such as “Flammable Liquid, N.O.S.”); versus Section 8, Documentation, a subsidiary hazard class which must be enclosed in “Brackets” following the primary hazard class or division.

Finally, another question that often comes up in this discussion is the use of numerals or alpha characters when describing packaging number and type on the Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods (DGD).  This question is answered clearly in IATA 8.1.6.9.2 as follows, “The number of packages can be entered in numerical characters, e.g. 1, 2, 3 or in alpha characters, e.g. one, two, three, etc. The type of package may be shown in singular or plural regardless of the actual number of packages,” as shown in these examples below:

  • 4 Steel Drum X 220 L
  • Four Steel Drums X 220 kg
  • 1 Fiberboard Boxes X 20 L
  • Ten Fiberboard Box X 20 kg

See all of the IATA source excerpts with key passages in screen shots below!

IATA Excerpts – Section 8 Documentation:

IATA Excerpt – Appendix B Glossary: