Policy & Compliance
Who is responsible for completing the Dangerous Goods Note?
The BIFA Secretariat has received several enquiries from Members about EXW shippers who declined to complete the Dangerous Goods Note (DGN). So who is responsible?
W hen dealing with Works (EXW) and Delivery Duty Paid (DDP). The most important point to make is that these are contractual terms and are overridden by law and international convention. Recently the BIFA Secretariat has received several enquiries from Members where EXW shippers declined to complete the Dangerous Goods Note (DGN). The argument was that they were not the exporter under the terms and that the buyer needed to complete the document. The essential point is that the Incoterms enquiries, two terms dominate – Ex Incoterms of a shipment do not have a bearing on the responsibility of the consignor for a dangerous goods (DG) shipment and the requirement to complete a DGN; this is defined in international convention. Logical conclusion In particular, please refer to IMDG Code Ref 5.4.1.6; this definition clearly does include the EXW shipper – in fact, logically, it is the only party who knows exactly what is packed for export, including quantities and precise nature of the goods. For IMDG Code DG shipments there are two signatures required: 1. IMDG Code Ref: 5.4.1.6: The consignor/shipper
The consignor is the only party that can make the declaration. The consignor, according to the IMDG, is the person or organisation that prepares a consignment for transport . The seller might be a different company/person altogether – for instance, the consignor may be a fulfilment company that prepares the consignment. 2. IMDG Code Ref 5.4.2: Container
packing certificate – This certification is for the container packer/loader. The person signing this is responsible for the compliance of all the DG in the container and the container itself. This cannot be anyone else apart from the person who is responsible for loading the container. Who signs? These two signatories can be the same person if the consignor is loading an FCL, in which case one DGN can be used with the consignor signing both the above. If the shipper is sending an LCL to an FCL consolidator, then the shipper need only sign the DGN
“ The essential point is that the Incoterms of a shipment do not have a bearing on the responsibility of the consignor for a dangerous goods (DG) shipment and the requirement to complete a DGN
certification box shall be signed and dated by the consignor – This is a declaration that the consignment/s has/have been prepared in accordance with the IMDG code – in other words classified, identified, packed, marked, labelled, etc.
once for its consignment and not for the container packing certificate. BIFA would like to thank Ascent Consultancy and Training
www.ascent-ct.com for their assistance in preparing
this article.
8 | January 2025
www.bifa.org
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