Pictured: Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA
The agreement to set and implement global standards was agreed when ICAO’s Secretary General, Juan Carlos Salazar visited IATA’s offices in Geneva, Switzerland where the associations discussed greater collaboration.
IATA has been issuing guidance for the carriage of dangerous goods since 1956 and a more formalised approach was taken at a regulatory level by the adoption of ICAO Annex 18 in January 1984, which outlines the basic principles for transporting dangerous goods by air.
Technical Instructions For The Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air builds on Annex 18 and contains detailed instructions necessary to safely transport dangerous goods by air and provides guidance to states for inspection and oversight.
Based on technical instructions agreed at a government level through ICAO, IATA works with the aviation industry to develop tools and recommendations, which are issued as the Dangerous Goods Regulations and are global standards applicable to the entire value chain.
The regulations include operator variations, supporting documents, tools, guidelines and notes for a practical and consistent approach to safely accept, inspect, handle and carry dangerous goods on aircraft.
Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA, says, “Today’s agreement ensures that dangerous goods will continue to be handled according to the highest globally applicable standards. To this effect, IATA will continue its advocacy work with key stakeholders to maintain a globally aligned, and practically focused approach to the regulated transport of dangerous goods. This will lead to more efficient and robust supply chains whilst upholding aviation’s number one priority of safety.”