IATA DGR 67th Edition: What Changed for 2026

Editor’s note (October 30, 2026): We checked this post against IATA’s own documents and corrected several details: which shipments the state of charge rule covers, the vehicle cargo code (RVO), special provision A226, and the Air Waybill rule in 8.2.3. We removed variation details we couldn’t confirm from IATA. Since publication, an ICAO addendum effective March 27, 2026 made two power bank rules mandatory for passengers; see “Passenger power bank rules” below.

The 67th Edition of the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations went into effect January 1, 2026. Compared to the 2025 overhaul, this year is mostly cleanup and clarification. But there’s one change that will bite you if you’re not paying attention.

Lithium Battery State of Charge Is Now Mandatory

This is the one that matters most. From January 1, 2026, the 30% state of charge limit that had been a recommendation is a requirement. (ICAO adopted it in the 2025-2026 Technical Instructions; it took effect this year.)

Two groups are affected:

Lithium-ion batteries packed with equipment (UN 3481, Packing Instruction 966). Under Section II, this covers cells and batteries above 2.7 Wh.
Lithium-ion and sodium-ion powered vehicles with batteries above 100 Wh (UN 3556 and UN 3558, Packing Instruction 952).

Batteries packed with equipment must be at no more than 30% of rated capacity. Vehicles can meet either a 30% state of charge or an indicated battery capacity of no more than 25%. Want to ship above 30%? You need written approval from the state of origin and the operator’s state. That means permits.

If you ship batteries packed alongside equipment, or e-bikes and other battery-powered vehicles, the SoC limit is no longer a suggestion. Batteries installed inside equipment are still only under a strong recommendation.

Hybrid Vehicles Get New Entries

Two new List of Dangerous Goods entries under UN 3166, with “hybrid” added as descriptive text:

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

Worth noting: “hybrid” is descriptive text, not part of the formal shipping name. IATA is clarifying that hybrids get classified by fuel source, not as battery-powered vehicles.

Four new Cargo IMP codes came with this:

RVB: Vehicle, battery powered
RVF: Vehicle, flammable, gas or liquid powered (including fuel cells)
RVH: Vehicle, hybrid
RVO: Vehicle, other (UN 3171)

Operator Variations Finally Use Consistent Language

Anyone who’s checked operator variations across carriers knows the frustration of five airlines saying the same thing five different ways. IATA standardized the wording for the most common restrictions:

Airmail with DG, Class 1 explosives (except 1.4S), salvage packagings, fissile material, liquids in plastic drums/jerricans, chemical oxygen generators, dry ice, excepted/limited quantities, hazardous waste, high-consequence DG, and self-balancing vehicles.

Same rules. Same words now. This is more helpful than it sounds if you’ve ever had a shipment rejected over an ambiguity.

Trivial Rejection Guidance

IATA amended Note 4 to paragraph 9.1.3 because its examples didn’t match the trivial reasons shipments were actually being rejected for, and committed to publishing more guidance on what’s a valid reason for rejection.

Passenger Power Bank Rules

The 67th Edition recommended that passengers not charge power banks from in-seat power at any point in flight. On March 27, 2026, an ICAO addendum made it a rule: power banks can’t be recharged on board, and each passenger can carry no more than two.

Not a direct shipper obligation, but it shows where regulator attention is pointed. Lithium batteries continue to be the main area of tightening.

State Variation Updates

Thailand added as a variation state
France and the UK updated their variations

Check the current variation text in the DGR before you ship to or through these states.

Carrier-Specific Changes

Operators publish their own variations, and IATA says a number of them were revised for 2026. Two examples from UPS’s current variations: UPS Worldwide Express Freight won’t accept UN 3551 (sodium-ion batteries) to, from, or within Europe, and UPS requires pre-approval for any shipment under special provision A331 (state of charge above 30%). Check each carrier’s current variations before you ship.

Special Provisions

A1: removed a note with no current application
A199: removed a sentence that created a contradiction
A226: Removed because it stopped applying on June 30, 2025. Detonators are still regulated as Class 1 explosives.

Documentation Changes

Air Waybill (paragraph 8.2.3): When a Shipper’s Declaration isn’t required, the AWB shows the UN number, proper shipping name, number of packages, and net quantity (for dry ice). Where another part of the regulations sets its own mandatory statement, such as the Section II lithium battery statement, that statement replaces those four items.

Safety Data Sheets now defined in the glossary (Appendix A). Appendix B.4 expanded with GHS information.

What’s Coming in 2027

New Appendix H previews changes expected in the 68th Edition based on UN Model Regulations Rev. 24:

UN 3563 (lithium metal batteries) and UN 3564 (sodium-ion batteries) installed in cargo transport units
Classification guidance for hybrid batteries (lithium-ion + sodium-ion)
Updated explosive segregation rules
SP A236 for MRI equipment
Blood and blood component transport exemptions
New chlorophenol entries (UN 3561, 3562)

2027 will be a bigger year since the ICAO Technical Instructions update on a two-year cycle.

Addendum I

Already published. Includes corrections for spare lithium battery subsections, added entries for electric detonators (UN 0030, UN 0255, UN 0456), corrected references in SP A116, and amended marking rules for sodium-ion cells and batteries (UN 3551). Mostly corrections, but it also clarifies the 8.2.3 Air Waybill rule and the data logger exception in 1.2.7.1.

Bottom Line

The theme is the same as the last few years: battery regulations are getting tighter, documentation expectations are getting clearer, and the number of carrier and country-specific rules keeps growing. Managing hazmat compliance manually across multiple carriers and destinations is getting harder every year.

That’s one of the reasons we built hazmat handling into StoaPack. At the packing stage it looks up the hazard class for supported UN numbers, packs each dangerous-goods item type in its own box, and checks supported package quantity limits. It doesn’t verify lithium battery state of charge, and it doesn’t support lithium batteries by air, so the 67th Edition SoC rules above still need your own process. These checks are decision support, not shipment certification.

Have questions about how these changes affect your shipping operations? Get in touch.