E-commerce — dangerous goods travel in parcels
Perfume, aerosols, power banks, nail polish, sanitisers — an ordinary webshop assortment. The shop that hands such a parcel to a courier is a dangerous goods consignor, with classification, packaging and the diamond on the box on its side of the deal.
The same parcel that rolls legally by road courier is prohibited in international post — Article 19 of the UPU Convention bans dangerous goods from the mail.
This is what you already ship
Typical dangerous goods of the industry — with the real Table A entries. Tap any card to open the full UN page in our reference.
Class 3UN 1266, PERFUMERY PRODUCTS with flammable solvents
Perfumery products — perfume and eau de toilette orders
LQ 5 L
Class 2UN 1950, AEROSOLS, flammable
Aerosols — deodorants, hairsprays, technical sprays
LQ 1 L / 120 ml
Class 9UN 3481, LITHIUM ION BATTERIES CONTAINED IN EQUIPMENT or LITHIUM ION BATTERIES PACKED WITH EQUIPMENT
Lithium-ion batteries in equipment — phones, laptops, power banks
LQ 0
Class 3UN 1263, PAINT
Paint — nail polish is literally paint in Table A
LQ 500 ml / 5 L
Class 3UN 1170, ETHANOL
Ethanol solutions — sanitisers, cosmetic tonics
LQ 1 L / 5 L
Class 2UN 2037, RECEPTACLES, SMALL, CONTAINING GAS
Small gas cartridges — camping and refill canisters
LQ 1 L / 120 ml
Three ways your goods can travel
The same product can go as limited quantities, under the 1.1.3.6 partial exemption or in full ADR — the classification and the packaging decide.
Limited quantities (LQ)
Small inner packagings within the column 7a limit, up to 30 kg gross — the goods travel with the LQ diamond, free of most other ADR provisions (Chapter 3.4).
Partial exemption (1.1.3.6)
Below the transport category threshold per transport unit — no orange plates, no written instructions, no ADR driver certificate (the list in 1.1.3.6.2).
Full ADR
Above the thresholds the goods travel under the full set of rules — transport document, plates and labels, equipment, trained crew and every participant duty.
The same perfume travels three ways — flacons in customer parcels go as LQ with the diamond, a consolidated shipment to a marketplace may fit under 1.1.3.6, and a wholesale pallet of stock ships in full ADR with an ADR driver.
Who answers for what
ADR splits the duties among the participants of the carriage. These are the roles your company typically holds — with the exact ADR paragraphs.
Consignor
Hands over only consignments that conform to ADR — classified, authorized, in approved packagings, with the transport documents furnished to the carrier.
Packer
Follows the packing and mixed-packing conditions and, when preparing packages for carriage, the marking and labelling requirements.
Loader
Checks packagings for damage before handing over, observes the mixed-loading prohibitions and the separation from foodstuffs.
Unloader
Compares the transport document with what actually arrived before unloading.
For each of these roles the company needs an appointed safety adviser (1.8.3.1) — ours works on subscription.
About the DGSAWhat a mistake costs
A parcel packed by a newcomer hired yesterday — the sums below are what national law charges for a mistake.
Sanctions are national — checks are European
Every ADR country sets its own fines for dangerous goods violations. Roadside checks follow one European standard — Directive (EU) 2022/1999 with a common list of infringements by risk category. Open your country to see the authorities and the exact amounts.
Find your countryAnd beyond the fines
- A vehicle stopped at a roadside check — with your customer waiting for the delivery
- An incident with an untrained crew — and an insurer reading the file closely
- Violations on record — and inspections coming back more often
What the law expects from you
ADR duties come first — and your industry carries its own EU rules on top.
Under ADR
- Classify every product before it is handed over for carriage
- Train everyone who touches dangerous goods (Chapter 1.3)
- Appoint a safety adviser — carriers, consignors, loaders, packers alike
- Mark, document and equip every consignment correctly
EU rules of the industry
UPU Convention — Article 19
Dangerous goods are prohibited in international mail. The narrow window — batteries only inside equipment and no more than two per item — depends on the destination country.
IATA DGR — air is a different world
When a courier routes your parcel through its air network, ADR LQ reliefs stop working — aviation follows its own regulations, and the same flacon may not fly at all.
CLP — Regulation (EC) 1272/2008
Classification and labelling for the market. A CLP pictogram on the flacon is a signal — the product is a candidate for dangerous goods, and the transport check starts there.
The industry in numbers
Is this about you?
If even one line matches your operation — it is worth a conversation.
- Your catalogue includes perfume, eau de toilette or gift sets with them
- You ship aerosols by courier — deodorants, hairsprays, technical sprays
- You sell electronics with lithium batteries or power banks
- Nail polish, sanitisers or gas cartridges sit in the assortment
- The courier has never asked what is inside your parcels
Our solutions
Thousands of parcels, three dangerous SKUs — our system flags them before the label is printed.
Cargo instruction with the transport document entry
Classification, the carriage regime and the ready transport document entry — for a specific cargo.
from €50 / document
A consultant on subscription
A certified safety adviser, the appointment notice and the platform — from €50 a month plus €10 per consignment.
ADRplus One
Train the team
Chapter 1.3 courses online, in your languages — at your own pace, with certificates.
Course is being updated
ADR compliance audit
A remote compliance audit with a report — where you stand and what to fix first.
€290
Questions from the industry
Have a different question?
Contact the consultantWe are just a shop and we ship by courier — how is this about us?
You are the consignor. The one who hands a parcel with dangerous goods to a carrier answers for classification, packaging, the LQ diamond and the information given to the courier — the courier moves the box, the duties stay with the shop.
Does LQ not free us from everything?
No. LQ is a lighter regime, not an exemption from the rules — the diamond on the box, gross limits per package, trained packers and correct inner packagings all stay. We set the flow up so the LQ conditions are actually met.
Can we send perfume abroad by post?
In international mail dangerous goods are prohibited by Article 19 of the UPU Convention — perfume included. The road courier network is the lawful route, and batteries in the post have only a narrow equipment-bound window that depends on the country.
Where do we start?
Send the assortment list — we prepare the cargo instruction with the transport document entry from €50 per document and mark which positions ship as LQ and which need more. From there the subscription from €50 + €10 per transport covers the adviser, the platform and the training of your packers.
Tell us how your goods move
Within one working day you get a clear answer — what applies to you, what does not, and what it costs to be in order.