IATA Alerts: Data Gaps Leave Forwarders Unable to Catch Dangerous Goods

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has highlighted a critical vulnerability in global cargo safety: forwarders and airlines cannot effectively identify undeclared or hidden dangerous goods—particularly lithium batteries—when sellers fail to provide accurate product information. According to IATA's latest white paper, 81% of dangerous goods occurrences reported in the first half of 2025 involved undeclared or concealed items, underscoring a systemic data integrity problem that extends beyond carrier compliance into upstream ecommerce operations. This gap exposes a fundamental tension in modern supply chain risk management.

While regulators and industry bodies call for earlier intervention in the cargo chain—moving safety checks further upstream toward retailers and marketplaces—the foundation required to execute this strategy remains fragmented. Without standardized, complete product data from sellers, forwarders operating at the intermediary layer remain blind to hazardous content, making it impossible to flag risks before dangerous goods enter air transport networks. For supply chain professionals, this represents both an operational and strategic risk.

Organizations must invest in upstream data governance, seller compliance programs, and integration with ecommerce platforms to close this visibility gap. The implications extend beyond safety; non-compliance carries severe penalties, service disruptions, and reputational damage. As regulatory pressure intensifies, companies that build robust data pipelines and leverage technology to validate product declarations will gain competitive advantage while reducing incident probability.