A drum of solvent and a retail bottle of nail polish contain the same substance and do not present the same risk. The regulations recognise this with two reduced regimes: Limited Quantities and Excepted Quantities. They are not the same thing, the relief is different, and shippers routinely claim one while meeting the conditions of neither.
The principle behind both is the same: risk is controlled by keeping the inner packaging small, so that a single failure releases very little.
Limited Quantities (LQ)
The more useful of the two commercially, because the quantities are large enough for real consumer goods.
- Per-substance inner limits are set in the dangerous goods list, typically from 100 ml or 100 g up to 5 litres or 5 kg depending on the substance and packing group.
- Outer package limit is normally 30 kg gross for a box, or 20 kg for a shrink-wrapped tray.
- The packaging must be a combination packaging, inners inside an outer, and it does not need to be UN performance tested, which is the main saving.
- The mark is a diamond with solid black upper and lower triangles and a white centre. No class label, no UN number on the package.
What LQ does not do is make the goods stop being dangerous goods. By sea, LQ shipments must still be declared to the carrier, still appear on the dangerous goods documentation, and still be stowed and segregated. By road under ADR the relief is broader, with no placarding on most vehicles. By air, LQ exists as the "Y" packing instructions and is far more restricted.
Excepted Quantities (EQ)
Much smaller quantities, and much broader relief.
- Assigned an E code, E0 to E5, in the dangerous goods list. E0 means excepted quantities are not permitted for that substance.
- Typical maximum inner quantity is 1 ml or 1 g up to 30 ml or 30 g depending on the code, with a maximum of 500 ml or 500 g per outer package.
- Requires inner, intermediate and outer packaging, with absorbent material for liquids, and a drop and stacking test on the completed package.
- The mark is a square with a hatched red or black border, showing the hazard class numbers and the name of the shipper or consignee.
Goods correctly shipped as EQ are not subject to most of the regulations: no dangerous goods declaration, no placarding, no segregation, and for air no shipper's declaration, though the number of packages must be shown on the air waybill and there is a per-aircraft package limit.
Which one applies to you
- Check the dangerous goods list entry for your UN number. It gives both the limited quantity value and the E code. If the LQ column shows 0 and the E code is E0, neither regime is available.
- Work from the inner packaging size, not the total shipment. A pallet of 400 boxes each holding 500 ml bottles can still be LQ.
- Check the mode. Air is far stricter than sea and road on both regimes, and something moving as LQ by sea may need full compliance by air.
The mistakes that get shipments rejected
- Assuming LQ means unregulated. It does not, particularly by sea.
- Exceeding the 30 kg outer limit because the inners were within their own limit.
- Using the wrong mark, or applying both the LQ diamond and a class label, which invalidates the LQ presentation.
- Overpacking. Putting LQ boxes into a larger overpack without marking the overpack correctly.
- Missing absorbent material in an EQ package containing liquid.
- Treating an aggregate air shipment as EQ beyond the permitted number of packages per aircraft.
If your goods do need the full regime, see the dangerous goods declaration and the nine classes.
General guidance. The applicable limits, codes and marks are set per substance in the current IMDG Code, IATA DGR or ADR. Always work from the entry for your specific UN number.
