The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has issued the Annex 18 “The Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air”, which sets international standards and recommended practices for the safe transport of dangerous goods by air.
The ENAC Regulation on “Dangerous Goods Air Transport”, published on October 31, 2011, transposes the Annex 18, entirely bound to the Technical Instruction (TI) annexed to ICAO Doc. 9284-AN / 905, which extends the basic provisions and specifies the requirements for the safe transport of dangerous goods by air.
For the carriage of dangerous goods subject to Exceptions established by ICAO and ENAC,approval of the Authority of the Operator State is required.
If the Operator is a holder of a license issued by the Aviation Authority of an EU Member State, such approval is issued in accordance with SPA.DG section of EU Regulation 965/2012.
For the carriage of goods for which Doc. 9284-AN / 95 and TI ICAO provide for the granting of Exemption or Approval by the Italian State, the subjects (Entities) entitled to apply (Operational Carrier – Shippers) may refer, For information, at merci.pericolose@enac.gov.it
Air carriers requiring traffic rights authorization for flights scheduled, non scheduled and overflights subject to an Exemption / Approval for DGr will get such a permission after obtaining approval for the carriage of DGR by the competent Enac Department.
Permit requests for flights with dangerous goods on board must be forwarded to the boxes scheduled.permits@enac.gov.it ; charter.permits@enac.gov.it , overflights@enac.gov.it in addition to the box merci.pericolose@enac.gov.it .
Passengers and persons not titled to apply for ENAC Exemptions or Approvals requiring information on the transport of Dangerous Goods by air are invited to contact the airline concerned.
Procedures to be followed when dispatching / transporting weapons, ammunition and explosives (ICAO 9284-AN / 905 State Variation IT5 or IATA DGR ITG05)
With the publication by the ICAO of the Addendum Corrigendum No. 1 to Doc. 9284-AN / 90 (https://www.icao.int/safety/DangerousGoods/Documents/Doc.9284.2017.2018.Add.Corr.1.fulltext.en.pdf ) the text of the State Variation IT5 has been modified, contained in Attachment 3, Chapter 1, Table A-1 of the above mentioned document.
The new text refers to Section GEN of the AIP (AERONAUTICAL INFORMATION PUBLICATION) Italy (GEN 1.4 (6)) document, which comes into force on 22.6.2017, which can be found at the link https://www.enav.it/sites/public /it/Servizi/informazioni-areonautiche.html. Below is the part of the text on the subject, for prompt reference.

6 WEAPONS AND AMMUNITIONS
Import, export and transit of common weapons, ammunitions and explosives other than those for military use, must be authorized by Police authorities.
Firearms and ammunition other than war weapons
Import and export of firearms is ruled by Reg.(UE) 258/2012, by Testo Unico delle Leggi di Pubblica Sicurezza – TULPS (Royal Decree 18/6/1931 n. 773 and amendments thereto in force) and by its implementing regulation (Royal Decree 6/5/1940 n. 635 and amendments thereto in force).
For transportation within Italian territory of firearms, circulating inside EU custom territory, rules contained in TULPS and in its implementing regulation apply. Law enforcement authority entitled to issue authorizations for import/export, and for receiving of transportation notifications in other circumstances, is the chief of district police department (Questore).
Civil use explosives
Air transport of explosives is allowed within the limitations of ENAC Regulation “Regolamento dell’ENAC per il Trasporto Aereo delle Merci Pericolose”, for the transposition of ICAO Annex 18 to Chicago Convention of 7 December 1944 and ICAO Doc. n.9284/AN 905.
Import from and/or transportation to other EU Member State of explosives for industrial use other than fireworks items are ruled by decree D.Lgs 81/2016.
Import from and/or transportation to other EU Member State of fireworks items are ruled by decree D.Lgs 23/07/2015 n. 123.For transportation of explosives inside Italian territory rules contained in TUPLS and in its implementing
regulation apply. The authority issuing licenses for ground transportation is the Prefect (Prefetto) of the involved district.
In addition, a transportation notice to the chief of district police department (Questore) shall be sent.
Fireworks items comprised within category 5, group E of annex A to TULPS implementing regulation may be carried without license.
War weaponry
Control of export, import and transit of war arms is subject to the Law of 9/7/1990, No. 185 and its amendments in force, and to Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense Decree of 7/1/2013, No. 19 (“Implementation of Law 185/90 and subsequent amendments.”). (Note: military aircraft carrying out transport operations for the purposes of Armed Forces and Police are excluded from this application.)
In case of transit only, including over-flights, an authorization from the prefect (Prefect) of the district containing the entry point is required.
The list of prefect offices within Italian territory is available on website www.prefettura.it.
6.4 ENAC activity
Upon request, ENAC issues exemptions and authorizations when required by ICAO Annex 18 to Chicago Convention of 7 December 1944 and by ICAO Doc. n. 9284/AN 905, in accordance with ENAC Regulation “Regolamento ENAC Trasporto Aereo Merci Pericolose”, provided that a satisfactory level of safety is granted by the applicant and that the necessity of air transport is declared.
For further information feel free to write to merci.pericolose@enac.gov.it or to ENAC, Funzione Organizzativa Operazioni Volo e Trasporto Aereo di Merci Pericolose, postal address Viale Castro Pretorio, 118 00185 Roma – Italia, PEC protocollo@pec.enac.gov.it.
For information about the implementation of Article 816 of Italian Navigation Code, concerning embarkation of weapons, ammunition and toxic gases, contact relevant ENAC Airport Department.
In case of mere transit through national territory, including oveflights only, of war weaponry on board of civil aircraft and classified as forbidden by ICAO from point of view of safety or for which ENAC Regulation “Regolamento ENAC Trasporto Aereo Merci Pericolose” requires a specific exemption issued by ENAC, the application for the exemption will be accepted only in case of substantial interest of an allied and friendly country; in such cases the relevant country shall send a verbal note to Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, stating the existence of such interest and attaching copy of the exemptions issued in accordance with ICAO
regulation by the State of operator and of origin and a copy of transport documentation duly filled and signed by the shipper as required by abovesaid ENAC regulation, stating also contacts (email address and telephone) for subsequent requests of technical and operations clarifications by ENAC about the exemption itself.
For the duration of administrative proceedings see Enac Regulation “Individuazione dei termini dei procedimenti amministrativi di competenza dell’ENAC”; ENAC will anyway give an answer as soon as possible even if usually not before 10 working days.