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Dangerous Goods

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport, is the UK Competent Authority and hence the focal point for all issues pertaining to the transport of dangerous goods by sea, or, as they are sometimes called, hazardous materials.

We are the primary source of authorisations, information and guidance on UK and International regulations pertaining to the transport of Dangerous Goods by sea.

The aim of the MCA is to ensure that the shipping industry can meet their duties under maritime law to the crew, passengers, ship and the environment. This includes facilitating UK trade through assisting and advising land based businesses to meet their duties under the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code.

To meet this aim we have produced this web page which gives information on issues concerning the transport of dangerous goods by sea, either through information published here or links to other web sites.

Matters regarding Dangerous Goods are the responsibility of the Environmental Policy Branch, in addition the branch deals with a range of environmental issues related to shipping - further details of this work can be found in the 'Environmental' section of this website.