Limited Quantity Packaging

No, Limited Quantity and Excepted Quantity are not the same.

Whilst Limited Quantities (LQ) and Excepted Quantities (EQ) are dangerous goods that when presented in smaller quantities, have a reduced risk of harm to people, animals, property or the environment. They both have different allowances on quantities permitted and have to conform to separate sets of packaging provisions which can also vary depending upon the mode of transport used.

Shippers must check the relevant regulation to see whether their substance can be shipped as LQ or EQ, in what quantities and the packaging requirements.

You can find the packaging requirements for limited quantities in Chapter 3.4 of the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, Model Regulations.

Here, you will find the provisions applicable for the transport of dangerous goods of certain classes packed in limited quantities. The applicable quantity limit is specified for each substance in column 7a of the Dangerous Goods List in chapter 3.2. Please refer to IATA, ADR and IMDG model regulations for specific provisions for the relevant mode of transport.

Most classes of dangerous goods as clarified by the UN’s Dangerous Goods Regulations include items that have some form of LQ exemption.

You can see for yourself what limited quantity limits apply to goods that you want to ship by looking through the Dangerous Goods List in Chapter 3.2 of the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, Model Regulations.

Column 7a of the list of Dangerous Goods lists limited quantities allowance. If this figure is ‘0’, then limited quality exemptions do not apply.

Please refer to IATA, ADR and IMDG model regulations for specific provisions for the relevant mode of transport.

Limited quantity packaging still has to comply with special provisions set out in the relevant UN regulations, although the criteria is not as strict as with UN approved dangerous goods packaging.

For example, the total gross mass of a limited quantity package shall not exceed 30kg.

You can find specific criteria for limited quantity packaging in Chapter 3.4 of the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, Model Regulations.  Please refer to IATA, ADR and IMDG model regulations for specific provisions for the relevant mode of transport.

Drivers that do not have ADR training should not carry any dangerous goods, regardless of whether they are in limited quantities.

There may be some confusion whether limited quantity ADR training is required due to the small load exemptions found in Chapter 1.1 of the Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road 2023 (ADR).

This exemption states that certain goods can be shipped in small quantities so that many ADR requirements do not apply. However, this does not mean that the driver should not be trained in the carriage of dangerous goods.

Goods shipped as limited quantity should be fixed with limited quantity labels on at least one side of the outer packaging. LQ labels are diamond shaped with black borders and black markings at the top and bottom.

LQ labels for road and sea are white in the middle, whereas LQ labels for air (that are required when shipping limited quantities by air) have a black ‘Y’ in the middle.

Dangerous Goods Packed in Expected quantities has a different set of provisions to Dangerous Goods Packed in Limited Quantities, therefore there is a different expected quantity label that applies to EQ goods.