Guide

Dangerous goods documentation checklist

What travels with a regulated consignment on each mode, who issues it, and what makes a document get rejected.

Last reviewed 2026-08-28

Read this as orientation, not as authority

This page summarises a regulatory position for planning purposes. It may contain errors or omissions, it is not legal, safety or regulatory advice, and the underlying rules are amended on cycles of their own. Nothing here states what hansa express holds or is approved for. Confirm the current requirement with the competent authority, or ask us about your actual consignment, before you act on it.

The common core

Every mode requires a description of the goods in a prescribed sequence, drawn from the dangerous goods list and reproduced exactly. The elements are the UN number, the proper shipping name, the class or division, the compatibility group where the goods are explosives, the packing group where one applies, and the quantity — with net explosive quantity stated for Class 1.

The sequence is not a formatting preference. It is prescribed, it is what an inspector and an acceptance checker read against, and a description that paraphrases the proper shipping name or reorders the elements is a description that can be rejected on its face.

Alongside it sit the commercial and customs documents, and the licences, permits and approvals obtained for the movement. Everything in the file describes the same consignment, and the most productive single check before departure is that the UN number, proper shipping name, quantity and consignee read identically on every one of them.

By mode

Road under ADR — the transport document with the prescribed description; written instructions in a language each crew member can read, carried in the cab; the driver's ADR training certificate; the vehicle approval certificate where an EX/II, EX/III, FL or AT vehicle is required; and the equipment set specified for the load.
Rail under RID — the consignment note carrying the prescribed description, together with the arrangements agreed with the carrier and the infrastructure manager for the wagons and the path.
Sea under the IMDG Code — the dangerous goods declaration from the shipper, and the container or vehicle packing certificate where the goods are packed into a cargo transport unit. The two are frequently combined on one form, and both are shipper responsibilities.
Air under the ICAO Technical Instructions and IATA DGR — the Shipper's Declaration for Dangerous Goods, the air waybill carrying the dangerous goods handling statement, and the operator's acceptance checklist completed before the consignment is taken.
Across all modes for Class 1 — the classification approval where the goods move under a not-otherwise-specified entry, and the export, import and transit authorisations for the route.

Who issues what

The shipper issues and signs the transport document, dangerous goods declaration or Shipper's Declaration. This is not a formality that can be delegated to the forwarder's convenience: the signature is a statement that the consignment is classified, packed, marked and labelled correctly, and it carries responsibility accordingly.

The packer issues the container or vehicle packing certificate, attesting to how the unit was loaded and secured and that segregation was observed.

The manufacturer or a competent authority supplies the classification approval, and the packaging manufacturer supplies the evidence that the packaging conforms to the approved design.

The licensing authorities issue the export, import and transit permits, and the end user supplies the end-user documentation where export control applies.

The carrier issues nothing from this list, but checks all of it — which is why a file assembled at the last moment is a file that gets handed back.

What gets a document rejected

A proper shipping name that does not match the UN number, or that has been paraphrased rather than reproduced from the dangerous goods list.
A missing or incorrect compatibility group on a Class 1 entry, or gross weight given where net explosive quantity is required.
A packing instruction or packaging type that does not correspond to the entry as described.
Documents that disagree with each other — quantities that differ between the declaration and the commercial invoice, or a consignee named differently on the permit and the transport document.
An unsigned declaration, or one signed by someone without evidence of the training the mode requires.
Permits that have expired, cover a different quantity or classification than the one presented, or omit a transit country on the actual routing.
Marking and labelling on the packages that does not match what the paperwork says is inside them.

Common questions

Can the forwarder sign the dangerous goods declaration on the shipper's behalf?

The declaration is a statement that the consignment is correctly classified, packed, marked and labelled, and it carries the responsibility that goes with that statement. Who may sign is a question of the mode's rules and of the arrangement between the parties, but it should never be treated as a clerical step delegated for convenience — the signatory is asserting something they need to be in a position to assert.

What is the single most common documentation error?

Documents that disagree with each other. Each may be defensible alone, but a quantity that differs between the declaration and the invoice, or a consignee named differently on the permit and the transport document, will stop a consignment. Reading the whole file against itself before departure catches most of it.

Is net explosive quantity really required, or will gross weight do?

For Class 1 the net explosive quantity is what permits, vehicle limits and terminal thresholds are written against, and substituting gross weight is a substantive error rather than an approximation. Both figures generally appear in the file, but they are not interchangeable.

How long should dangerous goods documents be retained?

Retention periods are set by the applicable modal rules and by national law, and they differ between jurisdictions and modes. Establish the requirement for the jurisdictions on your routing rather than applying a single house rule, particularly where export control documentation is involved, as those retention obligations are often longer.

Sources and verification

Planning a movement like this?

Send the cargo, the two ends of the lane and the date. If we cannot move it ourselves we will tell you who can — same day.

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