IATA has warned that undeclared and misdeclared dangerous goods represent a growing safety risk across the global air-cargo network, as e-commerce volumes surge and screening practices strain to keep pace.

The airline industry association issued the warning amid mounting evidence that shippers — whether through negligence or deliberate evasion — are consigning lithium batteries, flammable liquids and other regulated materials without the required declarations, labels and handling documentation.

The warning lands at a moment when air-freedom capacity is already stretched. E-commerce demand from platforms shipping directly to consumers has swollen cargo volumes, and each undeclared shipment that enters the network bypasses the segregation, packaging and notification rules that ground ICAO's Technical Instructions and national dangerous-goods regulations.

For airlines, the consequences are concrete. An undeclared lithium battery that ignites in a hold, or a leaking flammable package discovered in a warehouse, forces flight delays, diversions and emergency responses. It also exposes carriers to regulatory penalties and liability, because the airline remains responsible for what it carries even when a freight forwarder or shipper misdeclares the contents.

IATA's concern is not new, but the association's decision to speak out again signals that existing controls — shipper declarations, forwarder checks, carrier acceptance inspections and ramp-handling procedures — are losing ground against the volume and diversity of shipments. Counterfeit and substandard batteries, often shipped by small e-commerce sellers with little knowledge of the rules, compound the problem.

The regulatory framework puts the onus on the shipper to classify, pack, mark, label and declare dangerous goods correctly. Every link in the chain — shipper, freight forwarder, ground handler, airline — must verify the cargo it accepts. When a link fails, an unmarked hazardous package can travel through multiple airports and aircraft types before anyone detects it.

Industry data collected by IATA over successive years has shown a persistent pattern of dangerous-goods violations detected in cargo acceptance checks, including prohibited items, incorrect packaging and missing documentation. The association's latest warning suggests the trend is worsening rather than stabilising as e-commerce volumes grow.

The risk carries network consequences beyond the individual flight. A serious incident involving undeclared hazardous cargo can trigger emergency-landing procedures, airport closures and fleet inspections — costs that ripple through schedules and slot allocations at hub airports.

IATA's warning also serves as a call to regulators to step up enforcement against shippers and forwarders that misdeclare cargo, and to invest in detection technology and training for acceptance staff. Cargo screening for hidden dangerous goods remains technically harder than screening for explosive devices, because the range of regulated substances is broad and their signatures vary.

Airlines and ground handlers face a cost calculus: stricter acceptance inspections slow cargo throughput and add expense, but a single in-flight fire attributable to an undeclared battery could prove far costlier — in aircraft, lives and regulatory fallout. The 2010 UPS Boeing 747-400F crash in Dubai, traced to a cargo of lithium batteries, remains the industry's reference case for how high the stakes run.

IATA is expected to keep pressing for stronger shipper accountability, improved detection methods and harmonised enforcement as e-commerce-driven cargo volumes continue to climb through the decade.