Transporting healthcare and life science products such as vaccines or medication quickly and safely is more important now than ever. Not only are the products themselves time and temperature sensitive, but the people they are meant to help must be assured of the effectiveness and all time availability.

Do not miss the Pharma track at the IATA Experts Conference in Brussels, Belgium, 24-25 September 2025! 

The TCR contains all the information and requirements you need to ship compliant temperature-sensitive products. Accessing up-to-date carrier and government regulations, packaging requirements and documentation before you ship, reduces losses and improves patient health.

What's inside the TCR?

  • Applicability (shipper and carrier responsibilities, special handling conditions and transport conditions, compliance)
  • Government regulations (compliance requirements, variations by country)
  • Carrier regulations (general information, requirements and carrier variations)
  • Pharmaceutical facts and product types (temperature levels, market trends, product categories, biomedical research)
  • Packaging (general information, types and categories of packaging)
  • Documentation and labelling (specific documents, handling codes, labelling, marketing, WHO vaccine references)
  • Acceptance and control (processes, hazard analysis, cold chain management, handling information)
  • Traceability and tracking (general, RFID)
  • Air transport logistics (service levels, temperature ranges, packaging technology, risk factors, critical control points, temperature mapping, healthcare labelling, quality management, environmental considerations)

 

Still not sure if the TCR is for you? Download the full table of contents.

Stay up-to-date

Significant Changes to the 14th edition (2026) of the IATA Temperature Control Regulations (TCR) include: 

Acknowledgements

  • Updated membership of the Live Animals and Perishables Board (LAPB) and the Healthcare Cargo Working Group (HCWG).

1–Applications of these Regulations

  • Introduction of recommendations for CBTA training in Section 1.5 for all personnel involved in the handling of temperature-sensitive cargo.

3–Operator Variations 

Amendments to Operator Variations for:

  • AF (Air France)
  • CX (Cathay Pacific)
  • EY (Etihad Airways)
  • KL (KLM)
  • LO (LOT Polish Airlines)

4–Planning and Booking

  • Chapter provides requirements on advanced arrangements and booking procedures for temperature-sensitive shipments.

8–Packing

  • Corrections and updates to Sections 8.2.3 and 8.2.4 on the use of Aircraft and Non-Aircraft temperature-controlled containers.

10–Handling Procedures 

  • The acceptance section 10.2 has been revised.
  • The storage section 10.11 has been revised to reflect best practices in temperature-controlled storage and handling procedures.

Appendix D–Guidelines for Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) for Pharmaceutical Logistics

Audit Checklist

  • Appendix D has been updated to reflect the latest developments in the CEIV program.

Bibliography

  • Content from Chapter 17 moved to newly created Bibliography.

Glossary

  • Addition of definition CBTA.
  • Update of Must, Should and May definitions.

Across these Regulations

To enhance clarity and consistency, the following adjustments will be implemented progressively over the next few editions.

  • Terminology Update: For better precision and coherence, any instances of shall will be replaced with must to ensure clear and definitive mandatory conformance.
  • Measurement System Standardization: The use of the imperial measurement system will be phased out and replaced with the metric system only, aligning with international standards and improving usability.