Dangerous Goods Shipping Regulations

Dangerous Goods (DG), as its name states, are goods that are hazardous to human health or environment when coming in direct contact. Serious consequences will be implemented for those that failed to declare or classify such dangerous goods, especially when it comes to shipping them. Singapore’s international and national rules & regulations are strictly imposed in the DG shipping industry.

Moreover, there are supporting initiatives that have also been launched by various DG shipping agencies to help in the improvement of the DG regulation system in Singapore.

The present research shows that there exist inappropriate opinions between both the industry companies and regulating agencies concerning Singapore’s dangerous goods regulation system. Although industry companies aimed for a fused system with a single DG agency in charge to reduce the confusions that exist in the current system, the regulatory body. However, they had well-founded reasons to keep their multiagency system as they continuously try to improve and delegate these responsibilities among these DG agencies.

A common reason from these DG industries that were interviewed was there there is room for improvement on the effectiveness of communication between the industry and regulating agencies. Agencies shall keep pursuing timely communication with DG companies regarding the DG developments like the web portal updates & regulatory updates.

General System

Being able to adopt a number of international DG classification rules and regulations, Singapore gradually improves its DG regulating system and be able to catch up on European countries. There was an interview with Mr. Jacobsen from Leschaco Pte Ltd which he made an observation where he stated that Singapore made considerable advancement for the past decade especially on the warehousing for DG.

Overall, Singapore has established a relatively secure DG regulating system based on the various regulations and supporting activities being promoted by several DG agencies. These regulations cover different aspects of DG transport and logistics that protect the DG transport chain within Singapore in air, land and ocean freight.

You need a reliable carrier with professional expertise to carry flammable liquids, corrosive substances, and radioactive material.

In order to ensure the shipment of dangerous goods in compliance with the IATA Regulation on Dangerous Goods, Singapore Airlines Cargo employs highly skilled personnel who follow strict handling procedures. This means that the company will never jeopardize its passengers, crew, freight or the climate.

Before shipping dangerous goods please note the following points:

• When transporting restricted goods, you must comply entirely with the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations.
• You will ensure that items or chemicals are not banned for air transport.
• In accordance with IATA rules, you are responsible for identifying and classifying all dangerous goods such as labeling, branding, and marking.
• For every consignment of dangerous goods, you must complete the shipper’s declaration and an air waybill.
• The arrangement is required in advance.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Singapore has an accepted DG regulation system that encompasses various initiatives and agencies.

However, compared with the European system, the Singapore system has still some space to improve further. One important finding is that the industry claims that “overly-many” DG agencies balance the system, leading to further confusion and time use.

Another important and urgent requirement from each of these industries is its effective communication with the authorities. It is important to have an efficient system with effective communication strategies in order to safely and securely transport dangerous goods, especially with regards to hazardous chemicals.

Next, a research study was done where it has mainly focused on internal factors, meaning the national situation. Potential DG regulatory work should include more external factors, including similarities with the DG systems of other countries. You can read further on this research on Singapore’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering covering the dangerous goods regulations.