On 24 September 2026, the International Air Transport Association launched a new White Paper on Safety and Security in the Supply Chain (pdf). The focus of the White Paper is to strengthen both safety and security in the cargo supply chain. It aims to assist industry and government stakeholders in understanding how aviation safety and aviation security differ, where they overlap, and the synergies to address dangerous goods that are undeclared, misdeclared, or deliberately weaponized. It provides context on the evolving risk, assesses how existing security measures might support dangerous goods detection, and sets out practical options for strengthening prevention, detection, management and resolution across the wider air cargo and mail supply chain.
The paper highlights that the rapid growth of e-commerce, the widespread use of lithium batteries and other hazardous consumer products, increasingly complex supply chains, and the emergence of improvised incendiary devices have intensified risks to aviation. More than 80% of dangerous goods occurrences reported to IATA in 2025 involved undeclared dangerous goods. While cargo screening may help identify anomalies, the paper cautions that existing screening technologies, certification standards, algorithms, and training were primarily designed to detect security threats rather than dangerous goods. Screening should therefore be treated as one supporting layer, not as the sole or primary solution.
The central recommendation is a layered, risk-based and supply-chain-wide approach that identifies and removes unauthorized dangerous goods as early as practicable. This requires strategic direction, coordinated oversight and proportionate enforcement by States, alongside shared responsibility among manufacturers, online marketplaces, retailers, shippers, postal operators, freight forwarders, ground handlers, airports, screening providers and aircraft operators. Priority measures include shipper education, competency-based training, stronger documentation and acceptance controls, customer and commodity profiling, automated data analysis, accurate product information, effective reporting and information sharing, quality assurance, emergency preparedness and appropriate fire-mitigation measures. Everyone who is involved in preparing or transporting cargo has a role to play. Safety is not “Somebody else’s problem.”