The International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code) lays out the regulatory framework for all aspects of handling dangerous goods and marine pollutants in sea transport.
The IMDG Code is divided into two volumes:
- • Volume 1 containing sections on general provisions, definitions and training; classification; packing and tank provisions; consignment procedures; construction and testing of packagings, IBCs, large packagings, portable tanks, MEGCs and road tank vehicles and transport operations; and
- • Volume 2 containing the Dangerous Goods List, special provisions and exceptions, Appendix A (list of generic and N.O.S. proper shipping names), Appendix B (glossary of terms) and the Index.
Since it was first published in 1965, the Code has undergone many changes, in both format and content, in order to keep up with the rapid expansion of the shipping industry.
Amendment 43-26 includes updates to the provisions for the carriage of batteries and clearer criteria for the transport of vehicles, including electric vehicles. It also introduces new special provisions for vehicle safety assessment (SP 980), revisions to existing special provisions SP 961 and SP 962, new UN entries for lithium and sodium-ion battery systems, updates to segregation distances for radioactive cargo, and consequential amendments to the EmS Guide. It was adopted by the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Safety Committee at its one hundred and eleventh session in May 2026 and is mandatory from 1 January 2028 but may be applied by Administrations in whole or in part on a voluntary basis from 1 January 2027.
The provisions of the Code should be of interest to maritime administrations, shipping companies, manufacturers, packers, shippers, feeder services such as road and rail, and port authorities.
