Shipping Root Beer to France

Arsenio Hall, Root Beer, & Transport Regulations

Television talk shows have been around forever. Back in the 1950s there was Joe Franklin who moved over from talk radio and the emergence of “The Tonight Show” with its first host Steve Allen. In the 1970s and 1980s the formatting changed to include more tabloid type themes. Eventually shows became more about interviewing celebrity guests, comedy skits, and musical performances.

After all, where else could you see Tom Cruise jump around on a couch or see a presidential candidate play a saxophone? In case you didn’t catch the references, Tom Cruise’s antics were on the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and Arsenio Hall had Bill Clinton playing his saxophone.

What’s This Have to do with Dangerous Goods?

Speaking of Arsenio Hall, a part of his show included the skit called “Things That Make You Go Hmmm“. While quite funny, most aren’t appropriate for company blog. I mention this because of a recent regulatory inquiry that made it’s way to me.

A customer of ours wanted to ship a can of root beer from the US to a client in France. They wanted to know if the root beer would be considered a hazardous materials shipment. Good question if you think about it. Root beer could be considered hazardous because of the compressed gas (carbon dioxide) in solution which is hazard class 2.2.

The Regulations

Since this customer is in the US, the regulations to consider are 49 CFR and IATA. Granted you could use 49 CFR for all modes, but I tend to grab my IATA when it comes to air questions. For 49 CFR, §173.306 is where I started because a single can of root beer likely fits under the limited quantities of compressed gases.

While it does meet requirements to be a limited quantity, §173.307 gave me what I needed. It had an exception for carbonated beverages. IATA has the exact same exception. It is found in §3.2.2.4.2. Now I did check to see if France had any state variations against this material. There are none.

The next time you have a hazardous materials or dangerous goods question, don’t “go hmm“.  Call ICC’s Regulatory Helpline at 855-734-5469 if you are a customer. If not or for other assistance on everything ICC has to offer call our Customer Service Department at 888-442-9628 in the US or 888-977-4834 from Canada.