A booking clerk opens a DG request in January and finds UN 3171 on the form. The cargo is an electric scooter with a lithium-ion pack. Under the old habit, UN 3171 looked fine. Under Amendment 42-24, it does not.

That single line is where most of this year's rejections start.

The date that matters

IMDG Amendment 42-24 became mandatory on 1 January 2026. It replaced the 2022 Edition, Amendment 41-22, after the usual transition period. The amendment was adopted at the 108th session of the IMO Maritime Safety Committee under resolution MSC.556(108).

The IMDG Code itself has been mandatory since 1 January 2004, carried under SOLAS chapter VII. IMO amends it on a two-year cycle. Not everything in it is binding: training provisions, the security chapter, the layout of the multimodal dangerous goods form and a few other sections remain recommendatory. The packing, marking, stowage and segregation rules are not.

China did not wait. The Maritime Safety Administration published Notice No. 20 on 20 November 2025, effective 1 January 2026, telling shippers and carriers exactly which entries moved.

Sodium-ion got its own numbers

Sodium-ion batteries with organic electrolyte now ship as UN 3551, or UN 3552 when packed with equipment or contained in equipment. They no longer fit under a lithium entry by analogy.

The Dangerous Goods List gained 11 new entries and 58 existing entries were amended. If your product data sheet still lists an entry from 2023, it needs a second look.

UN 3171 shrank

This is the change that catches vehicle exporters. After the amendment, UN 3171 covers only vehicles and equipment powered by wet batteries, sodium metal batteries or sodium alloy batteries, transported with the battery installed.

Vehicles driven by lithium-ion, lithium metal or sodium-ion batteries move to UN 3556, UN 3557 and UN 3558 respectively. A new packing instruction, P912, applies to those three entries, and it covers how the vehicle is loaded and secured, not just boxed.

Two practical consequences. First, the DG declaration has to name the right UN number before the carrier will accept the booking. Second, if a vehicle is fully enclosed in packaging or a crate and cannot be identified from outside, the package and the cargo transport unit need the marks, labels and placards for that entry.

Stowage changed for UN 3536

Lithium batteries installed in a cargo transport unit now sit in stowage category D. That is a planning detail, not a paperwork detail. It decides where the box goes on the bay plan, and it is worth checking before the cut-off rather than after.

For UN 3090, UN 3091, UN 3480, UN 3481, UN 3551 and UN 3552 shipped under packing instruction LP903, a large packaging may now hold multiple large cells, large battery packs, or equipment containing them.

Charcoal lost an exemption

"Carbon, animal or vegetable origin" can no longer be exempted using the UN N.4 test in section 33.4.6 of the Manual of Tests and Criteria. Shippers who treated charcoal as general cargo on the strength of that test need a new classification. This one has nothing to do with batteries, and it still causes delays.

Two filings, not one

China's Notice No. 20 restates the procedural side. The shipper and the carrier handle the packaged dangerous goods safe-for-carriage report and the port entry and departure declaration for the ship under the Provisions on Safety Supervision of Dangerous Goods Carried by Ships, plus the amended IMDG.

Those are separate filings with separate owners. Treating them as one step is how a booking gets a number while the port side stays empty.

There is a people side too. Declarants and container packing inspectors must hold a certificate. The Ministry of Transport issued the 2026 examination syllabus on 18 June 2026 under document δΊ€εŠžζ΅·γ€”2026〕37 号, replacing the 2025 version. Certificates are tied to a role: a declarant is not a packing inspector.

The packing step is where liability lands hardest. Under China's Dangerous Chemicals Safety Law, in force since 1 May 2026, container packing of dangerous chemicals for water transport must happen under the direction or supervision of a packing inspector, and that inspector signs the packing certificate when the job is done. Packing without that supervision is listed among the violations carrying a fine of RMB 50,000 to 500,000.

What to do before the next booking

Pull the UN number off the current data sheet, not off last year's shipping file. Check the packing instruction against 42-24. Check the stowage category. Confirm the packing certificate will be signed by someone who holds a valid certificate for that role.

Rates and surcharges move on their own schedule. Carriers publish peak season surcharges with fixed effective dates and a price calculation date, and spot bookings often sit outside those rules entirely. Ask for the current number for your lane and date. Nobody can quote it from memory.

Hang Sheng Consolidation (Shenzhen) handles ocean, air, rail, FBA and DDP/DDU door delivery. For dangerous goods and battery-powered cargo, we check the documents before we talk about space. Reply within 24 hours. WhatsApp +8613927430130.

Sources

  1. International Maritime Organization β€” The International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code
  2. China MSA Notice No. 20 β€” implementation of IMDG Amendment 42-24
  3. Ministry of Transport β€” 2026 examination syllabus for dangerous goods declarants and packing inspectors
  4. Ministry of Transport β€” interpretation of the Provisions on Safety Supervision of Dangerous Goods Carried by Ships
  5. Dangerous Chemicals Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (full text)

Sources

Shipping this cargo from China?

Send the product, weight and destination β€” we reply with a fixed all-in quote within 24 hours.

Get Free Quote
← Back to all articles