IATA launches DG Digital
IATA has announced from Lima, Peru, where it is holding its annual World Cargo Symposium (WCS), the launch of DG Digital, an electronic Dangerous Goods Declaration solution.
DG Digital forms a feature of its DG AutoCheck automated compliance solution that optimises dangerous goods acceptance processes.
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.
The tool enables faster document sharing, improved safety and a significant reduction in rejected shipments, IATA said.
Taking away the paper
According to IATA, 95% of Dangerous Goods Declarations are today still received in paper format.
These declarations must be scanned, converted into a PDF document, then uploaded into DG AutoCheck to be validated. However, using DG Digital, declarations are generated and transmitted digitally from creation by the shipper to validation.
DG Digital captures all the data required 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 also easily identify and address issues that may cause a shipment to be rejected or delayed by an airline, including missing or incorrect documents.
Plus, having Dangerous Goods Declarations confirmed before the physical shipment takes place helps avoid costly fines while addressing any safety concerns.
DG Digital will therefore support a seamless and safer logistics and transport supply chain by enabling standardised, transparent data exchange across air cargo stakeholders, communities and platforms, IATA declared.
Proven results
DG Digital was trialled in Japan last year, where digitally validating declarations resulted in only 0.5% of dangerous goods shipments being rejected, IATA reported.
This represents a significant improvement from the current global average of 4.5% of shipments being rejected due to incomplete or inaccurate declarations.
The trial involved Japan-based carriers All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL), as well as six freight forwarders – International Cargo Service, JAS Forwarding Japan, MOL Logistics, Nippon Express, Nissin and Yusen Logistics.
Building on success
DG AutoCheck has completed more than a million dangerous goods checks since its launch in 2019, with more than a third of them having been completed last year alone.
This reflects a significant growth in dangerous goods shipments, with data from IATA CargoIS showing a 17.5% year on year increase in 2025, largely driven by the growing demand for lithium battery transport.
Frederic Leger, IATA’s senior vice president, product & services, remarked: “IATA’s Dangerous Goods Regulations are focused on reducing complexity and improving safety in the shipment of dangerous goods.
“DG Digital supports this by digitalising 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,” Leger pointed out.
Focus on IT at WCS
Many of the presentations and many of the conversations at this year’s WCS have focused on IT and how IT is offering technologies that improve efficiency in the airfreight shipping process.
How the international aviation trade body can support the boom in artificial intelligence (AI), and how IATA can use AI in its own digital tools, has been a particular focus.
In one particular panel discussion, for example, which related to digitalisation in air cargo, session moderator Andress Lam, head of cargo digital at Cathay Cargo, asked panellists how AI would impact the air cargo market over the coming five years.
While they found it hard to predict how the technology would develop, given the speed at which it is currently progressing, they each agreed it would not replace humans in the decision-making process.
