When international Dangerous Goods legislation was first agreed under ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation, a department of the UN) it was left to the airline industry to produce the working documents. IATA (International Air Transport Association, the airline trade association) developed the IATA Dangerous Goods Manual. However ICAO subsequently produced the ICAO Technical Instructions (TIs) for the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Air, and this is the legal document on which each country’s DG Legislation is based.
In the UK the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) is responsible for DG Air legislation and control and the ICAO Technical Instructions is the legal document. Any reference by the CAA, including prosecutions, will be based on the TIs. However the IATA manual remains the recognised ‘working document’ for the industry.
It is a requirement that all staff involved in the shipment of dangerous goods are trained to a level appropriate to their involvement by attending an approved course. All Dangerous Goods courses offered by Training Team are approved by the CAA, The CAA as the approving body set the examination and issue the certificates. Certificates issued by the CAA are the only ones recognised in the UK.