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A surprising range of ordinary retail products are regulated in transport: aerosols, batteries, alcohol-based liquids, magnets, some cosmetics. The obligation to classify and declare them sits with the shipper, and undeclared dangerous goods is a serious offence rather than a paperwork slip.
Determining whether goods are dangerous, and in which class, belongs to the party offering them for transport. A carrier accepting an incorrectly declared shipment does not transfer the liability — it usually discovers it during an incident.
These move through ordinary wholesale constantly and are regulated in ways most of their sellers have never been told. None of them look hazardous on a shelf, which is exactly why they get shipped undeclared.
Air transport applies the tightest rules, and quantities allowed on a truck can be forbidden on a plane. A shipment that has always gone by road can be refused the first time it is upgraded to air freight for speed.
Personnel preparing dangerous goods must be trained and certified, and the declaration accompanies the shipment. Both are checked in an investigation, and neither can be produced afterwards.