Briefing

IATA’s new Direct Air Waybill framework: Who bears the risk?

A quiet but significant shift in the contractual landscape of air cargo came into force on 1 July 2026. New amendments to the IATA Direct Air Waybill (DAWB) framework, adopted at the IATA Cargo Agency Conference in March 2026, have the potential to substantially alter who bears legal responsibility when things go wrong in the air cargo supply chain. If your business uses DAWBs — whether as a freight forwarder, a shipper, or an airline — now is the time to understand what has changed and to ask whether your existing contracts still reflect where you thought the risk sat.

What is a Direct Air Waybill and why the change in IATA’s position?

The air waybill (AWB) is the foundational document of the air cargo business. It records the contract of carriage and governs the obligations and liabilities of the parties involved in moving goods by air.

A DAWB is issued on an airline’s own AWB stock and has long been used in a particular way: a freight forwarder tenders cargo to a carrier, placing its name in the “issuing carrier’s agent” box whilst showing the underlying shipper — the cargo owner — in the “shipper” box. In this structure, the carrier would typically have negotiated rates and conducted commercial due diligence with the forwarder, yet the party formally identified as shipper was often an entity with whom the carrier had no direct relationship.

IATA identified this as a source of contractual ambiguity and practical risk. If a problem arises — for example, mis-declared dangerous goods, a customs irregularity, a sanctions issue — who exactly does the airline look to? The shipper named on the AWB may be a company the airline has never dealt with, located in a jurisdiction where recovery is difficult, or with no financial substance. IATA’s position, reflected in the new amendments, is that this uncertainty needed to be resolved.

What has changed?

The July 2026 amendments include the introduction of new provisions into a number of IATA resolution, including Resolution 801a(ii) of the Cargo Agency Agreement.

The core of the new framework is this: where a freight forwarder tenders cargo to an airline using a DAWB structure — with an underlying third-party shipper shown in the shipper box — the carrier and forwarder should agree bilaterally on the terms and indemnities that will apply. If no such bespoke agreement is reached, the consequence is automatic and significant: the forwarder is deemed to accept the same terms and conditions as if it were shipping in its own name as shipper. In other words, the forwarder steps into the shoes of the shipper for all purposes under the carrier’s conditions of carriage.

The practical upshot is that, in the absence of any agreed bilateral arrangement, the forwarder could find itself treated as the contracting shipper — with full shipper-level obligations to the airline including in respect of cargo information, freight charges, dangerous goods compliance, customs declarations, sanctions screening, and cargo security.

IATA has described the intent behind the change as providing “a clear and predictable framework that reflects the commercial agreement already in place” between forwarders and carriers when DAWBs are used for reasons other than selling transportation at the carrier’s tariff.

Who should be concerned?

Freight forwarders face the most direct and immediate exposure. The new default position means that, in the absence of a bilateral agreement with a carrier, forwarders using DAWBs may be liable as shipper for a wide range of obligations — including those relating to cargo that the forwarder neither owns, packs, nor has any operational control over. As Brandon Fried of the US Airforwarders Association has put it: “Once that happens, you’re potentially on the hook for things you never controlled and often can’t even see — how the cargo was packed, what’s actually inside the box, concealed dangerous goods, a misdeclaration by the shipper.”

The areas of greatest practical risk include:

Dangerous goods incidents and misdeclarations — where the shipper provides incorrect information about hazardous cargo;
Sanctions and export control breaches — where the forwarder may have no visibility of the true nature of the underlying transaction;
Customs irregularities and inaccurate cargo descriptions — errors in shipper-provided documentation; and
Cargo security incidents and screening failures.

Shippers should also pay attention. If a forwarder, facing increased exposure under the new framework, seeks to pass that exposure back through its standard trading conditions — by way of strengthened indemnities, additional information obligations, or insurance requirements — shippers may find themselves under greater contractual pressure from their forwarding partners. Shippers should review their contractual arrangements with forwarders and understand what protections (and demands) may arise.

Airlines, should they choose to adopt the new amendments, stand to benefit from the new framework, which provides a clearer route to contractual recourse. Airlines could now have a stronger basis to pursue the forwarder with whom they have a commercial relationship, rather than an unknown underlying shipper. For airlines looking to review how this framework can be deployed, the amendments also create an opportunity to revisit bilateral arrangements with key forwarder accounts.

The industry reaction — Far from settled

The amendments have provoked a fierce response from the freight forwarding community. FIATA — the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations — exercised its formal right to request a review of the amendments under Cargo Agency Conference Resolution 801c, and sought a postponement of the 1 July effective date until 1 October 2026. As at the date of this briefing 31 July 2026, that request had not been granted, and the changes had come into force as planned.

FIATA’s Director General, Dr Stéphane Graber, was direct: “Freight forwarders cannot reasonably be expected to assume significant new contractual obligations or liabilities outside their function without legal certainty or a proper opportunity to assess the resulting operational and insurance implications.”

Critically, there is already evidence that implementation will not be uniform. FIATA has reported receiving information that some airlines do not intend to implement the revised framework at all, at least in the immediate term. IATA’s own guidance tells forwarders to engage directly with individual airlines to establish what contractual arrangements will apply before tendering cargo. As one industry observer has noted, that approach is close to an acknowledgment that there is no single rulebook on day one.

For businesses in the market, this inconsistency creates its own set of problems. Forwarders may need to assess their position on a carrier-by-carrier basis — a potentially complex and resource-intensive exercise. FIATA is reported to be continuing to pursue a retroactive review request, and so the position may yet evolve.

What should you be doing now?

Whether you are a freight forwarder, a shipper, or an airline, the new framework is a prompt to take stock of your contractual position. The following steps are worth considering:

For freight forwarders:

Engage with your airlines. IATA’s own guidance tells forwarders to engage directly with each airline to establish whether it is implementing the revised framework and, if so, what bilateral terms will apply. Obtain written confirmation. Do not assume the old position continues to apply.
Review your standard trading conditions with shipper clients. If you may face shipper-level liability towards airlines, your indemnity arrangements with underlying shippers need to be robust enough to cover that exposure. Consider whether your existing standard terms adequately address this.
Check your insurance. Freight forwarder liability policies are typically written around what forwarders actually do. Assuming shipper-level exposure may take you outside the scope of your existing cover. Speak with your brokers/insurers — and do not wait for the market to adapt before doing so.
Know your shipper clients. The new framework heightens the importance of knowing who you are shipping for and obtaining accurate information about cargo contents, particularly for higher-risk cargo types.

For shippers:

If you are receiving DAWBs for your shipments:

Anticipate increased demands from your forwarders. Expect that forwarders will seek to strengthen indemnities and information obligations in their standard terms. Review those terms carefully.
Check your own cargo insurance. Ensure you have comprehensive all-risk cargo cover in place. Your forwarder may ask for confirmation of this before tendering cargo on your behalf.
Understand how your forwarder is operating. Ask your freight forwarder what arrangements it has put in place with the airlines it uses. If the forwarder has reached bilateral agreements, understand what those agreements say about risk allocation.

For airlines:

Decide your implementation position. Given inconsistency across the market, airlines should communicate clearly with their forwarder accounts about whether and how the new framework applies.
Review bilateral arrangements with key forwarder accounts. The amendments provide an opportunity to consider whether existing bilateral terms reflect the new allocation of risk, and whether any changes are appropriate.

For the industry in general, there will also be a need to monitor the evolving position, including how the changes are adopted and/or if they are subject to any revision as a result of FIATA’s efforts.

A moving target — Further developments to watch

The position remains fluid. It is not yet known whether FIATA’s efforts to advance a retroactive review of the changes will result in any further modifications to the new framework. Airlines appear to be implementing the changes inconsistently, and IATA’s guidance directing parties to make bilateral arrangements effectively defers much of the risk-allocation question to individual negotiations.

In short, the new DAWB framework represents a potentially significant shift in the contractual architecture of the air cargo supply chain — but one that is still being worked through in practice. Businesses that move quickly to understand their position and address any gaps in their contracts, indemnity arrangements, and insurance coverage will be better placed to manage the consequences, whatever form they ultimately take.

How HFW can help

HFW has extensive experience in advising airlines, freight forwarders, and shippers on air cargo contracting, liability frameworks, and regulatory compliance. We can help you assess your exposure under the new framework, review and strengthen your contractual arrangements, and advise on bilateral negotiations with carriers or forwarding partners.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this briefing, please contact your usual HFW contact or reach out to one of the authors.

This briefing is intended as a general overview and does not constitute legal advice. Specific legal advice should be sought in relation to your particular circumstances.