Home Dangerous Goods & Shipping Restrictions
DANGEROUS GOODS & SHIPPING RESTRICTIONS
TRUST DHL WITH YOUR HAZARDOUS SHIPMENTS
Dangerous goods are products or substances that pose a risk to safety, health or the environment during transport. These goods must be properly packaged and handled. At DHL Express, we have years of experience and expertise in the safe transport of dangerous goods. Take a look at our number of Guides and Resources on this page and reach out to our Customer Services team at the link below if you have any further questions.
USEFUL GUIDES AND RESOURCES
Lithium Batteries:
Interactive Tool 2022
Find Out More
Lithium Batteries:
Packing Guide 2022
Find Out More
Lithium Batteries:
Ion Batteries Guide 2022
Find Out More
Lithium Batteries:
Metal Batteries Guide 2022
Find Out More
Lithium Batteries:
DDI Guide 2022
Find Out More
DHL Dangerous Goods:
Have You Declared It?
Find Out More
How To Recognise Dangerous Goods
Goods that are always dangerous
You can recognize these goods by the ‘restricted commodities’ labels below. To ship these dangerous goods, you need certain permits and approval in advance.
Examples include:
- Loose lithium batteries
- A shipment (package) containing more than 2 devices with lithium batteries, or a device with more than 2 lithium batteries.
- Powerbanks (be careful with promotional gifts)
- Turpentine-based paint
- Pressurized aerosols (such as deodorant, hairspray)
- Perfumes
- Flammable substances (e.g. butane, matches, gasoline)
- Chemicals (e.g. bleach, drain cleaner, ammonia)
- Anything you pack and ship with dry ice, such as vaccines and medical materials or food/vegetables/fruit
Goods that can be dangerous
Some goods do not appear to be hazardous, but may contain hazardous components or substances, such as lithium batteries, mercury, toxic or flammable substances. You can recognize these by the red diamond-shaped labels below. Always contact our Customer Service for verification before offering these goods for shipping.
Examples include:
- Electrical equipment and instruments containing, for example, mercury, toxic, corrosive or flammable substances. Also consider devices such as electrically powered
- wheelchairs, golf carts and lawn mowers that often contain lithium batteries or fuel tanks.
- Electric scooters, hoverboards and drones contain powerful lithium batteries.
- Car parts: for example an airbag unit, which contains explosives.
- Human/animal body fluids, tissue or remains (blood, urine, ashes).
The following goods are prohibited and will never be accepted for carriage:
- Fireworks and other explosives such as, for example, flares
- Weapons and ammunition
- Radioactive material
- Poisonous gases, such as for example Sarin or Mace/pepper spray
- Wastes, living botanicals, livestock, animals, perishables
-
Human remains or ashes
-
Cash (legal tender – bank notes, currency notes, coins) and travelers cheques
-
Illegal goods, such as counterfeit goods and narcotics
Important Update on Shipping Corrosive Materials to the United Kingdom
Effective from 6 April 2022, The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 outlined a response to the threat of corrosive substances as a weapon. As a counter measure, these substances cannot be sold nor delivered to persons under 18 years old.
Find out more about these new measures and what it means for your business here.
IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS & RESOURCES
We want to make shipping with us as simple as possible for your business. That's why we have included all of the important documents that you need to ship with DHL in one place.
Find Out More
CONTACT US
Whether it is a question about Dangerous Goods and Shipping Restrictions or you have a different query, you can contact our team of International Specialists.
Contact Us
GOGREEN WITH DHL
GoGreen is a DHL, worldwide environmental protection programme which demonstrates our strong sense of environmental responsibility and commitment to supporting you, our customers, to grow sustainably.
Find Out More