What goes wrong

Shipped it the wrong way

Updated October 2026

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How it happens Inner limits by packing group And a 30 kg cap on the package Air removes the labeling relief And adds requirements Check the table entry first Carriers have their own rules on top References

The limited quantity exception is generous, and air is carved out of most of it.

How it happens

A perfume goes out in a padded mailer like any other small item. The limited quantity exception does relieve labeling, specification packaging, shipping papers and placarding, but it requires combination packagings and a strong outer packaging.

Inner limits by packing group

0.5 L for Packing Group I, 1.0 L for Packing Group II, 5.0 L for Packing Group III and combustible liquids. A perfume at high alcohol is usually in the tighter groups, and the group follows from the flash point.

And a 30 kg cap on the package

Each package may not exceed 30 kg, 66 pounds, gross weight. A case of 120 mL glass bottles with their outer packaging gets closer to that than people expect.

Air removes the labeling relief

Limited quantities are excepted from labeling requirements unless the material is offered for transportation or transported by aircraft. So the same package that travels relieved by ground is not relieved by air.

And adds requirements

For aircraft the package must also conform to 49 CFR 173.27, covering authorized materials, inner packaging quantity limits and closure securement, and only material authorized aboard passenger-carrying aircraft may go as a limited quantity.

Check the table entry first

The exception is permitted only if 173.150 is referenced for your specific material in the 172.101 table. Starting from the exception rather than from the table entry is how people conclude they qualify when they do not.

Carriers have their own rules on top

A carrier can refuse or restrict a material it is lawfully able to carry, and a postal service is not a freight carrier. Confirming with the specific service you intend to use is part of the work.

References

49 CFR 173.150, Exceptions for Class 3 (flammable and combustible liquids). Limited quantities are excepted from labeling unless offered by aircraft, and from specification packaging when in combination packagings, with inner packagings not over 0.5 L for Packing Group I, 1.0 L for Packing Group II and 5.0 L for Packing Group III in a strong outer packaging, and no package exceeding 30 kg gross. The exception applies only where this section is referenced for the material in the 172.101 table. law.cornell.edu

29 CFR 1910.1200, Hazard Communication, which sets what a shipped container of a hazardous chemical carries and requires a safety data sheet. law.cornell.edu

Written from federal regulation and from measured catalog data, not from a perfumer’s bench. Whether a formula is Packing Group I, II or III follows from its flash point, and whether the limited quantity exception is available depends on the 172.101 entry for the material. Nothing here is a permit, a classification or a finding that a package complies.