How to complete the IMDG Multimodal Dangerous Goods Form, box by box

The IMDG Multimodal Dangerous Goods Form, which DGAssistant issues from the data of each sea consignment, is completed by identifying the parties and the voyage in boxes 1 to 13, describing the goods in box 14 in a fixed order, and signing the packing certificate in box 20 and the shipper's declaration in box 22.

Edition and chapters

This guide follows the IMDG Code, 2024 edition, amendment 42-24, in force since 1 January 2026. Chapter 5.4 governs the document: section 5.4.1 the dangerous goods information, 5.4.2 the container/vehicle packing certificate and 5.4.5 the form. The data come from the Dangerous Goods List (chapter 3.2), from chapters 3.4 and 3.5 for limited and excepted quantities, and from chapter 2.10 for marine pollutants.

Box names and prescribed wordings use the terminology of the DGAssistant glossary; where a statement must be reproduced literally, the wording in your edition of the Code prevails.

The information is mandatory, the layout is not

Section 5.4.5.1 draws the line: the data must be supplied, but this particular sheet is optional. The Code presents it as one possible model of transport document (5.4.1.2.5) that meets SOLAS regulation VII/4 and regulation 5 of MARPOL Annex III. Its advantage is that one sheet serves as both transport document and packing certificate; otherwise the two are attached to each other (5.4.2.2).

In any format, pages are numbered consecutively (5.4.1.2.3), and the dangerous goods come first, or stand out in another way, when other goods share the document (5.4.1.2.2). Electronic transmission needs the agreement of the carrier, and the consignor must be able to produce a paper version without delay, in the prescribed sequence (5.4.1.1). Consignor and carrier keep a copy for at least three months (5.4.6.1).

The form, box by box

Box	Name	What goes in
1	Shipper/Consignor/Sender	Name and address of the consignor (5.4.1.3).
2	Transport doc. number	Reference that identifies the document.
3	Page of pages	Page and total. Continuation sheets repeat boxes 1 to 5 and box 14.
4	Shipper's reference	Reference of the consignor.
5	Freight Forwarder's reference	Reference of the freight forwarder.
6	Consignee	Name and address (5.4.1.3). For infectious substances, the full address with the name and telephone of someone responsible (5.4.1.5.6).
7	Carrier	Reserved by the box itself for the carrier.
8	Aircraft limitations	Delete as appropriate: passenger and cargo aircraft, or cargo aircraft only. It has a function only if the journey includes an air leg.
9	Additional Handling Information	Handling or emergency data outside the description. The Code prescribes no content.
10	Vessel/flight No. and date	Vessel or flight, and date of departure.
11	Port/place of loading	Where the goods are loaded.
12	Port/place of discharge	Where they are unloaded.
13	Destination	Where they are going.
14	Shipping marks; Number and type of packages; description of the goods; Gross mass (kg); net mass (kg); Cube (m³)	See the next section (5.4.1.4 and 5.4.1.5).
15	Container id. no. or Vehicle reg.	Number of the unit, which the certificate must state (5.4.2.1).
16	Seal number (s)	Seals on the unit.
17	Container/Vehicle size & type	Size and type of the unit.
18	Tare mass (kg)	Tare of the unit.
19	Total gross mass (kg), tare included	The unit with its contents.
20	Container/vehicle packing certificate	Company responsible for packing/loading, name and status of declarant, place, date and signature of the person directing the operation in the unit (notes to 5.4.5).
21	Receiving organisation receipt	On reception: what was received, remarks if it does not appear to be in good order, Haulier's name, vehicle registration and Driver's signature.
22	Shipper's declaration: signature	Company, name and status of declarant, place, date and signature of the consignor (5.4.1.6.1). A facsimile signature is valid if the law recognises it; electronic transmission admits an electronic signature or the name of the signatory in capitals (5.4.1.6.2). The document must also show the date on which it, or an electronic copy, was prepared or handed to the initial carrier (5.4.1.3).

Box 14: the description of the goods

Five elements make up the description, and 5.4.1.4.2 fixes their order and allows nothing between them unless the Code provides for it:

1. The UN number, with the letters UN in front.
2. The proper shipping name, with the technical name in parentheses on entries under special provision 274 or 318.
3. The class or division, with or without those words, and, for class 1, the compatibility group letter.
4. Any subsidiary hazard, in parentheses.
5. The packing group, when assigned.

Anything else goes afterwards, starting with the quantities of 5.4.1.5.1. State one total quantity for each different proper shipping name, UN number or packing group, by volume or mass as appropriate; class 1 uses net explosive mass, and empty, uncleaned packagings need no total. State the number and type of packages too: a UN packaging code may complement the type, as in "a box (4G)", but does not replace it. Inner packagings of a combination packaging need not be itemised.

One substance shows how the regime changes the text. The List gives turpentine as UN 1299, class 3, packing group III, letter P in column 4, 5 L in column 7a and a flash-point of 35 °C closed-cup in column 17. Packagings and quantities are illustrative.

Consignment	Description of the goods	Packages and total quantity
Steel drums of 200 L	UN 1299, TURPENTINE, 3, PG III, (35 °C c.c.), MARINE POLLUTANT	40 steel drums (1A1), 8,000 L
Fibreboard boxes with four inner packagings of 5 L, under 30 kg gross	UN 1299, TURPENTINE, 3, PG III, (35 °C c.c.), limited quantity	60 fibreboard boxes, 1,200 L

In the second entry the marine pollutant wording falls away because no inner packaging exceeds 5 L; the flash-point stays because chapter 5.4 still applies.

Flash-point

The flash-point is declared for liquids with a primary or subsidiary hazard of class 3 and a value of up to 60 °C closed-cup (5.4.1.4.3.7), so it also affects, for example, a class 6.1 liquid with subsidiary hazard 3. The lowest value is declared, and the examples in 5.4.1.4.4 place it in parentheses after the packing group. The figure in the List is only a reference: the Code warns that impurities can move the actual value either way, so the entry must reflect the product shipped.

Marine pollutant

A marine pollutant is identified with the words MARINE POLLUTANT, which may be extended to MARINE POLLUTANT/ENVIRONMENTALLY HAZARDOUS (5.4.1.4.3.6). Three checks:

• Classification. The letter P in column 4 and in the index marks known marine pollutants, but its absence does not rule out the criteria of 2.10.3 (2.10.2.4).
• N.O.S. entries. The name is completed with the recognised chemical name of the constituent that contributes most to the classification (3.1.2.9.1).
• Small packagings. If the substance also meets the criteria of another class, except class 7, and each single or inner packaging holds no more than 5 L or 5 kg net, the wording, the marks and the stowage preference of 7.1.4.2 do not apply (2.10.2.7). UN 3077 and UN 3082 have their own route: special provision 375 releases those quantities from the rest of the Code if the packagings meet the general provisions.

EmS codes

Column 15 of the List gives two codes for the EmS Guide: the fire schedule and then the spillage schedule, such as F-E, S-E for turpentine. The Code states that this column is not mandatory, and 5.4.1 does not require the codes. What is mandatory is that emergency response information be immediately accessible at all times, away from the packages (5.4.3.4.1), through entries in the transport document, the special list or the manifest, through a separate document such as a safety data sheet, or through the EmS Guide and the MFAG used with the transport document.

Many shipping companies ask for the codes all the same; where included, they go after the description. On N.O.S. and other generic entries, the consignor may declare different codes if it knows them to be more accurate.

Limited and excepted quantities

A limited quantity consignment still needs the document, because 3.4.1.2 keeps chapter 5.4 in force. Column 7a gives the maximum per inner packaging or article, and a zero excludes the regime. A package may not exceed 30 kg gross, or 20 kg on a shrink-wrapped or stretch-wrapped tray (3.4.2). The description must include the words "limited quantity" or the abbreviation your edition of the Code admits (3.4.6.1 and 5.4.1.5.2.1). Substances of the same class and packing group III packed together under 3.4.4.1.2 also need the statement "Transport in accordance with 3.4.4.1.2 of the IMDG Code".

Excepted quantities are similar: chapter 5.4 applies (3.5.1.1), column 7b gives the code, E0 excludes the regime, and the document adds "dangerous goods in excepted quantities" with the number of packages (3.5.6.1).

Other wordings the form may need

Situation	What the form adds	Section
Waste for disposal, not radioactive	WASTE before the name	5.4.1.4.3.3
Empty, uncleaned means of containment, not class 7	EMPTY, UNCLEANED or RESIDUE, LAST CONTAINED, in front of or behind the description	5.4.1.4.3.2
Solid offered molten	MOLTEN in the name	5.4.1.4.3.4
Liquid at 100 °C or above, solid at 240 °C or above	HOT right after the name, unless the name already says so	5.4.1.4.3.5
Stabilized substance	STABILIZED; if by temperature control, TEMPERATURE CONTROLLED with control and emergency temperatures	5.4.1.4.3.9 and 5.4.1.5.4
Lithium cells or batteries under special provision 376 or 377	DAMAGED/DEFECTIVE, LITHIUM BATTERIES FOR DISPOSAL or LITHIUM BATTERIES FOR RECYCLING	5.4.1.4.3.8

Section 5.4.1.5 adds further cases: salvage packagings, self-reactive substances, polymerizing substances and organic peroxides under temperature control, aerosols above 1,000 mL, segregation groups, fireworks, refrigerated liquefied gas in portable tanks, classes 1 and 7, and whatever a special provision requires.

The packing certificate: boxes 15 to 20

Whoever packs the container or vehicle issues the certificate with the identification number of the unit (5.4.2.1). The signature in box 20 vouches for three things:

• The unit. It is clean, dry and, to all appearances, fit for the goods; for class 1 other than division 1.4, structurally serviceable (7.1.2); correctly marked, labelled and placarded, with marks that no longer apply removed; and, if it holds a coolant or conditioning agent with an asphyxiation risk, such as dry ice (UN 1845), marked externally (5.5.3.6).
• The load. Every package was inspected externally and only sound ones were loaded; those requiring segregation are apart, unless the competent authority approved otherwise; drums stand upright unless that authority allows otherwise; the load is properly placed and, where necessary, secured; goods in bulk are evenly distributed.
• The documents. A dangerous goods transport document has been received for each consignment loaded.

Portable tanks do not need the certificate (5.4.2.1). If the sheet is used only as a certificate, not as a combined document, a signed declaration from the shipper or supplier must cover each consignment in the unit (notes to 5.4.5).

Frequent errors

• Altering the order of the description, with the flash-point, the quantity or the marine pollutant wording between the name and the packing group.
• Copying the flash-point from the List instead of taking it from the product.
• Relying on the letter P alone, or omitting the chemical name of an N.O.S. entry classified as a marine pollutant.
• Applying the 5 L or 5 kg exception to the outer package, when it refers to each single or inner packaging.
• Assuming that a column 15 code settles the emergency information, when one of the routes of 5.4.3.4.1 has to be in place.
• Declaring gross mass for class 1, or a UN packaging code with no type of package.
• Having box 20 signed by someone who did not direct the operation.

How DGAssistant handles it

DGAssistant issues the multimodal form from a consignment whose parties, products and wastes you define only once. SmartDGAssistant asks only for the data each situation requires and warns you if the document is incorrect, indicating how to resolve it. On the points of this guide:

• You state whether the goods are a marine pollutant when you add them, and the mark and the wording on the form depend on that answer.
• A product that appears more than once in a declaration gets an inventory with the total quantity, and density management shows the quantity of liquids in kg.
• The application also manages approval codes, inner packagings and the EmS emergency schedules, and checks segregation as you add the goods.
• Limited and excepted quantities follow the rules of their regime, and the packing certificate is issued with the rest when it applies.
• If the journey includes a road leg, the form can carry the ADR information or have it printed separately, as the questions on regulations explain.

To issue it, tick Show IMDG Multimodal Dangerous Goods Form in the last tab, Consignee and Goods, and click Finish; or tick the consignment in List of Consignments (Transport Documents) and click Transport Document.

Step-by-step instructions are in the IMDG section of the manual and the video tutorial. You can also download the free IMDG-IMO form template in Excel.