Biocourier

Diagnostic sample transport, UN3373B

Most clinical specimens that travel - blood, urine, stool, tissue, swabs, bone marrow - are carried under UN3373, “Biological substance, Category B”. The category is the point, and it is what the B stands for: Category B covers material that is not expected to cause permanent disability or life-threatening disease in an otherwise healthy person, and it is handled under a lighter regime than the Category A infectious substances. The packing instruction that goes with it is P650, which is what the certified pouches and boxes are built to.

Greek national transport guidelines are harmonised with the international protocols - IATA for air, RID for rail, IMDG for sea and ADR for road - so one consignment can change mode without changing how it is packed. We carry these shipments within Greece and, through our partner network, to Europe, the Americas and the rest of the world.

What we do

We bring the certified packaging to you, or send it ahead. Collection and packing are done by a driver certified under ADR, so the person who seals the box is the person qualified to carry it. We complete the declarations and certificates the consignment needs, arrange customs clearance for destinations outside the EU, and deliver door to door - to the laboratory bench, not to a depot.

Who packs it

ADR is the European agreement on the carriage of dangerous goods by road, and it is the qualification our drivers hold - certified by the Ministry of Transport - for the biological material they carry. It matters here for a practical reason rather than a formal one: a Category B consignment is packed at the point of collection, by the person collecting it, and that person has to be qualified to do both. Through our partner network we undertake ADR shipments across Greece and abroad, biological or otherwise.

Things to watch out for

• Category B packing is three layers, not one. A leakproof primary receptacle, a leakproof secondary, and a rigid outer. Absorbent material between the first two has to be enough to take up everything the primary holds. A padded envelope is not an outer packaging.
• The outer surface must carry the UN3373 diamond and the words “Biological Substance, Category B”, with the sender’s and receiver’s details and a responsible person’s telephone number. An unmarked box is a box nobody at the destination will open.
• Dry ice makes it a second dangerous good. Frozen at −70 °C the shipment also travels as UN1845, which needs a vented outer so the gas can escape, its own label, and a declared net weight. We handle that as one shipment, not two.
• The category decides the regime, and the sender decides the category. Anything meeting the Category A criteria travels as UN2814 or UN2900 under a much stricter rule set. If you are not certain which you have, tell us before the sample is packed rather than after.
• Samples from animals follow the same rules as samples from people. Blood and tissue from a pet going to a laboratory, whether sent by a veterinary practice or by an owner, is packed to UN3373B exactly as a patient sample is.
• Temperature and category are separate questions. Category B says how it is packed; +2 °C to +8 °C or −20 °C says what it is packed in. A specimen can need both, and the cold chain is where we describe the second.

Official sources

Check these directly rather than taking anyone’s summary, including ours - the rules are revised on a fixed cycle and only the issuing body’s own page is current.

• WHO - Guidance on regulations for the transport of infectious substances: the reference text for Category A and B classification and for P650.
• IATA - Dangerous Goods Regulations: the air rules, reissued each year.
• UNECE - About the ADR: the road agreement, with the current consolidated text.
• OTIF - RID, carriage of dangerous goods by rail: the rail regulations.
• IMO - IMDG Code: the maritime code.

Requirements differ by destination and by carrier, and they change. Call +30 210 64 66 400 or email info@kanga.gr with what you are sending and where, and we will tell you how it needs to be packed before you pack it.