What's New In the 2026 IATA DGR?

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has published a list of significant changes and amendments to the 67^th Edition of its Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR), the manual used to ship and transport hazardous materials by aircraft within the US and internationally. Compliance with the revised requirements in the 67^th Edition DGR is mandatory as of January 1, 2026.

In this blog: 

• Updates for lithium batteries taking effect January 1, 2026
• Revised DGR State variations for 2026 (Thailand, France, and UK) 
• Standardized wording of very common Operator variations
• Revised DG List shipping names for certain vehicles (UN 3166)
• 2026 DGR addresses “trivial” rejections of hazmat cargo

Lithium Batteries in 2026: 30% State of Charge 

For some shippers of lithium batteries by air, the current recommended limits on state of charge (SoC) for lithium batteries during transport aboard aircraft will become mandatory requirements as of January 1, 2026, when the updated DGR takes effect. 

IATA has limited the state-of-charge for lithium batteries shipped alone for several years. IATA introduced additional limits on state-of-charge for batteries shipped in- or with-equipment as recommendations in the 2025 DGR.

Starting January 1, 2026, the following must be offered for transport at a state of charge not exceeding 30% of their rated design capacity or an indicated battery capacity not exceeding 25%: 

• UN 3481, lithium ion batteries packed with equipment where the cells/batteries have a Watt-hour rating greater than 2.7 Wh. 
• UN 3556, Vehicle, lithium ion battery powered where the battery has a Watt-hour rating greater than 100 Wh. 

Video: Shipping Lithium Batteries by Air in 2025-26

Also, changes for dangerous goods carried by passengers and crew in Section 2 of the DGR include recommendations for charging power banks and spare lithium batteries in the aircraft cabin.  

Updated DGR State and Operator Variations

IATA “State variations” are extra requirements added to the DGR by individual countries. These can be unique and vary greatly depending on the destination country. There are a few updates to specific State Variations in DGR 2.8.2 that you will want to make note of if you ship hazardous materials to Thailand, France, or the UK. 

IATA “Operator variations” are requirements submitted by individual air carriers that can be unique. Shippers should review these if they plan to offer a shipment with any IATA member airline including FedEx, UPS, etc. Not all air carriers are able or willing to assume the risk that comes with transporting certain hazardous materials. 

Pre-order the 67^th Edition IATA DGR (2026) 

Communicating Common Operator Variations Consistently

Some types of hazardous materials are totally prohibited or restricted by many, most, or all air carriers ("operators") because of the extremely severe risks involved. These include: 

• Airmail containing dangerous goods
• Explosives (Hazard Class 1) 
• Fissile material 
• Dangerous goods in salvage packagings 
• Hazmat liquids in plastic drums or jerricans, unless prepared a specific way 

For the 2026 DGR, IATA has re-phrased some of the most common operator variations, including for the materials listed above, to make the language consistent from carrier to carrier. Other edits and amendments from IATA will standardize common operator variations related to:

• Chemical oxygen generators 
• Dry ice 
• Excepted quantities and limited quantities of DG
• Hazardous waste 
• High-consequence dangerous goods
• Self-balancing vehicles 

Updates for UN 3166 and IATA Special Provisions 

The 2026 IATA DGR revises two proper shipping names to the DG List in Section 4.2. IATA added the word “hybrid” to the shipping names for UN 3166. These names will now read: 

• Vehicle, flammable gas powered, hybrid 
• Vehicle, flammable liquid powered, hybrid 

IATA also amended a few Special Provisions in Section 4.4: SPs A1, A199, and A226.

Minor Discrepancies and “Trivial” Rejections of DG Cargo

Earlier this year, IATA issued a memo about hazmat packages being rejected by cargo screeners due to minor or “trivial” discrepancies. The memo stressed that certain small differences found on the Shipper’s Declaration are not valid reasons for rejecting dangerous goods cargo unless the discrepancy will compromise the safety of transportation. 

The memo came after shippers raised concerns about cargo being wrongly rejected due to small issues with formatting of the Dangerous Goods Declaration (DGD). 

The significant changes list for 2026 includes this from IATA: 
 

9—Handling 

9.1.3—Acceptance Checklist and Note 4—the reference to minor discrepancies and differences have been amended. The examples in the note are not reflective of the trivial reasons that are currently being given for rejection. Additional guidance material will be published on the IATA website.

Hazardous materials shippers and other interested stakeholders can view the full list of significant updates and amendments to the 67^th Edition IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) here.

What is the IATA DGR?

The International Air Transport Association’s Dangerous Goods Regulations (IATA DGR) is the manual used by dangerous goods/hazardous materials shippers, freight forwarders, brokers, and air carriers around the world to mitigate the risks posed by hazardous materials in air transportation.  

The IATA DGR combines international hazmat regulations from the United Nations, the ICAO Technical Instructions or "TI," with unique requirements and preferences of member airlines—including passenger airlines and major cargo carriers like UPS and FedEx. The DGR is updated annually and all revised requirements take effect on January 1 of each new year.