IATA Launches DG Digital To Fully Digitalise Dangerous Goods Declarations.

Lima, Peru; March 2026: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched DG Digital, IATA’s digital Dangerous Goods Declaration solution, as a feature of DG AutoCheck. The new tool fully digitalises the creation and approval of shippers’ declarations for more than 3,800 dangerous items, ranging from lithium batteries to explosives and chemicals. This results in faster document sharing, improved safety, and a significant reduction in rejected shipments.

Today, 95% of Dangerous Goods Declarations are still received in paper format. These declarations must be scanned, converted into a PDF document, then uploaded into DG AutoCheck to be validated. With DG Digital, declarations are generated and transmitted digitally from creation by the shipper to validation. This creates a more efficient and streamlined workflow compared with traditional paper-based processes.

Digital Declarations –

DG Digital captures all required data needed for Dangerous Goods Declarations while enabling users to exchange this information electronically with all partners.

Cross-referencing IATA’s Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR), users of DG Digital can easily identify and address issues that may cause a shipment to be rejected or delayed by an airline, including missing or incorrect documents. Having Dangerous Goods Declarations confirmed before the physical shipment takes place also helps avoid costly fines while addressing any safety concerns.

DG Digital will further support a seamless and safer logistics and transport supply chain by enabling standardised, transparent data exchange across air cargo stakeholders, communities, and platforms.

Successful Trial –

The launch of DG Digital follows successful trials in Japan last year where digitally validating declarations resulted in only 0.5% of dangerous goods shipments being rejected. This is a significant improvement from the current global average of 4.5% of shipments being rejected due to incomplete or inaccurate declarations. The trial included All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan Airlines (JAL), and 06 freight forwarders: International Cargo Service, JAS Forwarding Japan, MOL Logistics, Nippon Express, Nissin, and Yusen Logistics.

Growing Market –

Since its launch in 2019, DG AutoCheck has completed more than 01 million dangerous goods checks, with more than a third completed in 2025. This reflects a significant growth in dangerous goods shipments, with data from IATA CargoIS showing a 17.5% year-on-year increase for the full year 2025, largely driven by the growing demand for lithium batteries.

“IATA’s Dangerous Goods Regulations are focused on reducing complexity and improving safety in the shipment of dangerous goods. DG Digital supports this by digitalizing the shipper’s declaration process, providing all stakeholders, from shipping agents and freight forwarders to ground handlers and airlines access to the same document. This supports the rapid resolution of any issues in the documentation before an item is physically shipped”, said Frederic Leger, IATA’s Senior Vice President, Product & Services.

Ensuring the safe transportation of dangerous goods can be a complex and time-consuming process, and you can’t afford to make mistakes; Manual cross-referencing the Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods (DGD) and IATA’s Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) increases the chances of errors that may lead to rejections, fines, and penalties for non-compliance that costs time and money.

This process is even more complicated when shipments contain Overpacks, All Packed in one, and require more detailed Q-value calculations. Greater chances for error also occur when cargo must comply with airline and state variations. This is why you need a better way to minimise human oversights and maximise efficiency across your operation. 

And that’s where DG AutoCheck comes in: An innovative digital solution, DG AutoCheck automatically cross-references a DGD with the IATA DGR, providing a more detailed and accurate acceptance process for dangerous goods. It is an online rules engine to facilitate the acceptance of dangerous goods (in order to fly them safely).

Advantages Of DG AutoCheck –

• Process a shipment in as little as 5 minutes.

• Automatically generate a detailed report of compliance issues together with the IATA DGR references

• Calculate Q Value instantaneously.

• Make physical inspections easier with the package preview that shows required marks, labels, and packaging requirements.

• Display all applicable State or operator variations with a simple click of a button.

• Get reliable business intelligence data and insights on your processes to identify opportunities for improvement.

Team Maverick.