IATA has warned that airport cargo screening alone cannot address undeclared or mis-declared dangerous goods, using its Budapest cargo conference to press for a broader supply-chain approach. The airline body pointed to incidents involving lithium batteries, undeclared e-cigarettes and aerosols, and said the main risk arises before shipments reach the airport.
Brendan Sullivan, IATA’s global head of cargo, argued that security screening is only one layer of defence and is aimed primarily at explosives and other terror threats rather than the full range of dangerous goods. IATA said about 80% of the dangerous-goods incidents it reported in the first half of 2025 involved undeclared or hidden items.
The organisation is calling for closer coordination across governments, manufacturers, online marketplaces, shippers, freight forwarders, postal operators, airlines, ground handlers and airports. It also highlighted its white paper, Safety and Security in the Cargo Supply Chain, as the basis for a multi-layered policy response focused on earlier detection, stronger oversight and better information sharing across the logistics chain.