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Ocean freight··8 min read

Shipping Paints and Chemical Reagents: IMDG, SDS and Mexican Permits

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A pail of industrial paint, a drum of solvent, a batch of lab reagents or an acid for a plant process. To the buyer they're inputs. To the ocean carrier, the airline and Mexican customs, many of them are dangerous goods, and that changes how they're packed, how they're documented, who can move them and which permits they need to enter Mexico.

This guide covers what to check before buying and shipping paints, chemical reagents and, often in the same operation, industrial machinery and spare parts.

Regulatory information verified as of October 1, 2026.

When is a paint or reagent a dangerous good?

When it meets the criteria of one of the nine hazard classes in the UN Recommendations, which are adopted by the IMDG Code for ocean freight, the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations for air freight and Mexican regulations for road transport. The most common classes in paints and industrial chemicals are:

ClassWhat it coversTypical examples
3Flammable liquidsSolvent-based paints, varnishes, thinners, resins
8Corrosive substancesAcids, alkalis, some lab reagents
6.1Toxic substancesCertain reagents and chemical intermediates
5.1Oxidizing substancesPeroxides, nitrates and other oxidizers
9Miscellaneous dangerous goodsEnvironmentally hazardous substances, among others

Not every paint is dangerous: many water-based paints are not regulated for transport. The manufacturer determines the classification from the product's properties and records it in the safety data sheet.

What is the safety data sheet and why do we ask for it first?

The safety data sheet (SDS; HDS in Mexico) is the manufacturer's technical document. Section 14, "Transport information," gives the UN number, proper shipping name, class, packing group and whether the product is a marine pollutant. Everything else follows from that.

In Mexico, NOM-018-STPS-2015, the harmonized system for identifying and communicating hazards and risks from hazardous chemicals in the workplace, published in the DOF on October 9, 2015 and in force, aligns the SDS with the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) and calls for it to be in Spanish for workplaces handling those substances. Ask your supplier for an up-to-date Spanish SDS at the quoting stage.

How are they shipped by sea?

The International Maritime Organization's International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code has been mandatory under SOLAS since January 1, 2004 and is amended on a two-year cycle. In practice, for a container with paints or chemicals:

  • Declare at booking. The carrier must accept dangerous cargo before confirming space; not every sailing or vessel will.
  • UN-approved packaging. Drums, jerricans, pails or boxes with the UN mark matching the product's packing group (I, II or III).
  • Marking and labeling of every package with the UN number, proper shipping name and class labels.
  • Dangerous goods declaration and a container packing certificate.
  • Segregation. Some classes can't travel together (for example, acids and alkalis, or oxidizers with flammables), whether in the same container or in certain positions aboard.
  • Placards on the container for the classes it carries.

There are limited quantity and excepted quantity provisions that simplify some requirements for small inner packagings, such as paint in retail-size cans. Don't assume they apply: confirm with the SDS and the carrier.

See our ocean freight service.

And by air?

Air transport is governed by the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR), based on the ICAO Technical Instructions and updated every year. Keep in mind that:

  • Some products may fly only on cargo aircraft, not in the hold of passenger aircraft.
  • Per-package limits are stricter than by sea.
  • The shipper signs the Shipper's Declaration for Dangerous Goods and is responsible for classification, packing and marking.

For urgent lab reagents or samples, air is usually the way. See our air freight options.

What changes on the road inside Mexico?

Road transport of hazardous materials in Mexico is governed by the Regulation for Land Transport of Hazardous Materials and Waste and a set of official standards. The reference list is NOM-002-SCT-SEMAR-ARTF-2023, "List of hazardous substances and materials (dangerous goods)," published in the DOF on December 18, 2023 and in force since February 16, 2024. It replaced NOM-002-SCT2/2011 and aligns with the IMDG Code and the UN Recommendations.

In practice, the leg from the port or border to your plant requires a carrier that operates hazardous materials with vehicles, placarding, documents and drivers that meet those rules. See our ground transportation service.

Which import permits may apply in Mexico?

It depends on the substance and its tariff line. These are the regimes we see most often with industrial chemicals:

  • Sector registry. Annex 10 of the 2026 General Foreign Trade Rules includes, among its 16 sectors, Sector 1, Chemical products, Sector 3, Chemical precursors and essential chemicals, and Sector 6, Chemical substances and materials for pyrotechnic uses. If your tariff line is listed, you need that enrollment on top of the general registry.
  • COFEPRIS and SEMARNAT (CICOPLAFEST). The agreement listing goods regulated by the agencies of the Intersecretarial Commission for the Control of Pesticides, Fertilizers and Toxic Substances, published in December 2020 and amended since, provides for COFEPRIS import permits for pesticides, plant nutrients and toxic or hazardous substances or materials, and SEMARNAT authorizations for certain toxic or hazardous materials and ozone-depleting substances.
  • Chemical precursors (COFEPRIS). The Federal Law for the Control of Chemical Precursors, Essential Chemical Products and Machines for making Capsules, Tablets and/or Compressed Tablets, last amended in May 2023, states in Article 16 that their import or export may only take place through customs offices designated by the Ministry of Health, with its verification.
  • Defense. The agreement listing goods regulated by Mexico's Ministry of National Defense, from December 2020, includes substances such as ammonium nitrate, chlorates, perchlorates, nitrocellulose and potassium permanganate when destined for making explosives or pyrotechnics, and their import requires a permit.

These lists change. Before buying, your customs broker should check the exact tariff line and the declared use. We coordinate this review with our partner licensed customs broker; see our customs brokerage service.

And when chemicals leave Mexico?

Exports have their own controls. The chemical precursors law covers exports as well as imports. In addition, Mexico's agreement on dual-use goods, software and technologies, published in the DOF on December 27, 2020, requires a prior export permit from the Ministry of Economy for listed items, including chemicals controlled under the Australia Group, with an end-use and end-user statement. If your chemical is bound for another country, check its classification against those lists before quoting a delivery date.

What about machinery and spare parts?

Chemicals rarely travel alone: many industrial operations combine inputs with machinery, equipment and parts. Here, dimensions and weight drive the logistics:

  • Equipment that fits a standard container moves FCL with lashing and chocks.
  • Oversized or very heavy pieces need a flat rack, open top or breakbulk, with a stowage plan and crane handling at port.
  • Urgent spare parts usually go by air.

If a machine contains oils, batteries or refrigerants, it may also carry a dangerous goods component. Ask us about project cargo through our freight quote tool.

Pre-shipment checklist for chemicals

  1. Current SDS in Spanish, with a complete section 14.
  2. UN number, class and packing group confirmed.
  3. Approved packaging and correct marking.
  4. Carrier or airline acceptance before booking.
  5. Tariff line, sector registry and permits (COFEPRIS, SEMARNAT, Defense) reviewed.
  6. A Mexican road carrier authorized for hazardous materials.
  7. Cargo insurance that covers the nature of the goods.

How Kold Gold handles it

We've moved paint, chemical reagents, machinery and parts. We review the SDS before quoting, confirm acceptance with the carrier or airline, coordinate packing and documents at origin, and our partner licensed customs broker reviews registries and permits before shipping. We operate in the world's busiest international ports and at every customs office in Mexico, routing through designated customs offices when the goods require it, with GPS tracking on the ground leg. We only move regulated goods when they hold the permits the authority requires.

We speak your language: multilingual agents who coordinate with your supplier and with you.

Visit our chemicals and machinery logistics page, review our track record or get a quote with our freight quote tool. Message us on WhatsApp or call +52 55 8897 4255 (Mexico) or +1 (619) 359-6567 (United States). You can also email direccion@kold.gold.

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