{"id":735226,"date":"2021-04-13T07:18:12","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T11:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/?p=735226"},"modified":"2025-09-05T04:56:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T08:56:09","slug":"must-vs-may-shall-vs-should","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/help-center\/articles\/must-vs-may-shall-vs-should\/","title":{"rendered":"Must vs. May \/ Shall vs. Should"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-858738 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ICC_MayMustShallShould_Blog_4-2021-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1001\" height=\"301\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Have you ever paid attention to the terms \u201cmust, may, shall, or should\u201d when reading through transport regulations? Maybe\u2026Maybe not. Well, if you weren\u2019t already aware, these particular terms are significantly important to shipping dangerous goods. Listed below are the definitions of these terms per each Regulation and what they actually \u201cmean\u201d in my opinion.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/product-category\/publications\/imdg-code\/\"><b>International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Regulations<\/b><\/a><\/h2>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Referenced in Foreword section<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Shall<\/strong> = Mandatory (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You better do it or it\u2019s not going on the ship)<br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Should<\/strong> = Recommendatory (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We strongly suggest you do, it\u2019ll make us happy, but we can\u2019t reject your shipment)<br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>May<\/strong> = Optional <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(You do it if it makes you happy because it doesn\u2019t matter to us)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/product-category\/publications\/iata\/\"><b>International Air Transport Association (IATA) Regulations<\/b><\/a><\/h2>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Referenced in Section 1.3.1.3<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Shall<\/strong> = Mandatory (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You better do it or it\u2019s not going on the plane, AND we will return it back to you with a big fat rejected stamp<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">)<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Must<\/strong> = Mandatory <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Like I explained for \u201cShall\u201d\u2026it\u2019s not going on the plane)<br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Should<\/strong> = Preferred requirement but not binding <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(We strongly suggest you \u201cshould\u201d do it, it\u2019ll make us happy, but we can\u2019t reject your shipment)<br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>May<\/strong> = Preferred requirement but not binding <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(So you \u201cmay\u201d want to do it our way, but we will accept your shipment if you chose not to do it)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/product-category\/publications\/canadian-tdg\/\"><b>Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) Regulations<\/b><\/a><\/h2>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Reference in Part 1.3 (2)(a)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Must<\/strong> = Imperative <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(No ifs and no buts, it\u2019s done our way)<br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>May<\/strong> = Permissive <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(We are giving you the freedom of choice)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/product-category\/publications\/us-49-cfr\/\"><b>49 CFR<\/b><\/a><\/h2>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Referenced in Part 171.9 (b)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Shall<\/strong> = Imperative <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(You don\u2019t have a choice)<br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Must<\/strong> = Imperative<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (You can complain if it makes you feel better, but you still have to do it if you want to ship it)<br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Should<\/strong> = Recommendatory <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(We strongly suggest you \u201cshould\u201d do it, it\u2019ll make us happy, but we understand if you prefer not to)<br \/>\n<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>May<\/strong> = Permissive <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(Freedom of choice)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hopefully, my explanations are better than how the Regulations define these terms. Should you need help with these terms or any other interpretations in the Regulations, the Regulatory Experts at ICC Compliance Center are always here to help. Contact ICC at 1-888-977-4834 (Canada) or 1-888-442-9628 (U.S.), and ask for one of our Regulatory Experts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/newsletter-signup\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stay up to date and sign up for our newsletter!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>We have all the products, services and training you need to ensure your staff is properly trained and informed.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/product-category\/publications\/iata\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-853845\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/BK-IATA21-2-150x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/product-category\/publications\/iata\/\">IATA Publications<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/product-category\/publications\/imdg-code\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-855964\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/BK-IMO2V20-150x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/product-category\/publications\/imdg-code\/\">IMDG Publications<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/product-category\/publications\/canadian-tdg\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-855648\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/BK-CLTJE-150x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/product-category\/publications\/canadian-tdg\/\">Canadian TDG Publications<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/product-category\/publications\/us-49-cfr\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-853847\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/BK-MANCFRM-2020-150x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/product-category\/publications\/us-49-cfr\/\">US 49 CFR Publications<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you ever paid attention to the terms \u201cmust, may, shall, or should\u201d when reading through transport regulations? Maybe\u2026Maybe not&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12565,"featured_media":735228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2413,2494,2661,2740,4000,4007,4008,5069,5070,5071,5073,5074,5076,5078],"tags":[2362,2364,2366,2368,2429,2455,2496,2574,2643],"class_list":["post-735226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tdg-regulation-updates","category-iata-and-icao","category-49-cfr-regulation-updates","category-imdg-code-regulation-updates","category-air-transport-popular-topic","category-ocean-sea-transport","category-ground-road-and-rail-transport","category-ground-transportation","category-air-transportation","category-sea-transportation","category-dot-49-cfr","category-tdgr","category-iata","category-imdg","tag-dangerous-goods","tag-hazmat","tag-tdg","tag-49-cfr","tag-regulations","tag-iata","tag-shipping","tag-hazardous-materials","tag-imdg"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Must vs. May \/ Shall vs. Should | ICC Compliance Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about what the terms \u201cmust, may, shall, or should\u201d really mean when reading transport regulations. 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