What the 2025 IMDG Code Changes for Vehicle-Carrier Operators
The IMDG Code 2025 Edition became mandatory on 1 January 2026 and tightened the scope of the Li-ion battery dangerous-goods exemption. Vehicle carriers are within the changed envelope.
The 2025 Edition of the IMDG Code became mandatory on 1 January 2026. For vehicle-carrier operators the significant change is the narrowed scope of the Li-ion battery exemption — the conditions under which an EV is not treated as Class 9 dangerous goods for carriage purposes.
What changed
- Damaged, defective, or recalled Li-ion units now face stricter handling requirements regardless of SoC.
- Documentation requirements at the loading interface have tightened.
- Used-EV exports — a fast-growing segment — face additional pre-shipment verification.
Operational consequences
Operators have absorbed most of the documentation burden by tightening their loading manuals. The harder change is the used-EV export segment, where pre-shipment battery state verification is now closer to a fitness-for-purpose check than a paperwork exercise. Some flag states are coordinating with terminal operators to standardise the inspection.